‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News 12-18 June 2022
Much of what is depicted as vast corruption is ‘accepted as standard procedure‘ in business and banks – John Whitehead, former Goldman Sachs Co-Chairman, former US Deputy Secretary of State
Everything needs to be fixed in the context of international standards, in terms of human rights and labor law too
– League of Multinational Corporations in Sri Lanka, 2018
The League of Multinational Corporates (LMNC) was formed in Sri Lanka in early 2018 by seven ‘leading’ multinational companies, predominantly chemical importers: Anglo Unilever (a monopoly in Sri Lanka’s home market), British American Tobacco’s Ceylon Tobacco Co (CTC, ‘the highest market capitalization on the Colombo Stock Exchange’), Anglo HSBC (‘the largest bank in Europe’), US Mastercard (‘with over 500 million customers’), Dutch Heineken (‘World’s 2nd -largest beer manufacturer, operating in over 190 countries’), Lanka Indian Oil Co (‘No 1 Brand in India & first-listed energy company in Sri Lanka’), and top chemical importer Swiss Baur & Co.
The newly formed League (LMNC) invited PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as Chief Guest to their inaugural business forum in 2018. Other participants were Ministers Sagala Ratnayake, Harin Fernando, Harsha de Silva (see ee Focus, Coomaraswamy & Debt).
Wickremesinghe, removed later that year, soon lost his own seat in 2019. An unelected Wickremesinghe is PM again, as well as Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation & National Policies. Mr Wickremesinghe’s present advisory team includes Ratnayake, Fernando and de Silva. They have been ‘hailed widely’ by the ‘international community’ (read: white powers!). So! An unelected minority are indeed ruling the country, perhaps achieving the ‘international standards’ for ‘human rights’ demanded by the LMNC?
• The capitalist media shifted from investigating the Aeroflot sabotage to expose Indian-government-backed capitalist Gautam Adani’s fronting the multinational corporate capture of Mannar’s energy resources. National Freedom Front (NFF) MP Wimal Weerawansa observes the growing Indian role in Sri Lanka is accelerated by the IMF deliberately delaying much needed assistance. The PM has also delayed getting fuel from Russia. Weerawansa suspects the Quad and the West will use their ‘Right to Protect’ policy to launch ‘international’ military operations against Sri Lanka.
Expect further scarcity as the US government weaponizes finance, a foreign policy strategy using ‘incentives (access to capital markets) and penalties (varied sanctions) as tools of coercive diplomacy.
Meanwhile in an attempt to cover up yet another scandal behind the April decision to ‘default’, a battle has broken out in the Central Bank, to assign blame (see ee Focus). Former governor WD Lakshman must reveal how his proposal for a development bank was sabotaged. We recall SBD de Silva’s assertion that Sri Lanka’s central bank, set up by the USA, has always opposed the independence of the country. Now capitalists wish to make the bank independent of the country and its people altogether.
• On 15 November 2019, ee registered the new capitalist tactics: ‘the liberal bourgeoisie in the Atlantic heartland of the global political economy has sought to reassert its waning hegemony by way of a resurgent capitalist internationalism’. SBD de Silva had already observed this ‘internationalism’ in his book The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, back in 1982:
Multinational conglomerates like Unilever, etc.,
‘infiltrate international agencies, including the UN system.
With their effective intelligence networks, they can even destabilize governments.
While making use of the military & diplomatic power of international capitalism
as represented by the USA, they in turn serve its political interests.
To a large extent these conglomerates can defend their interests abroad
without colonialism based on conquest of territory, for the reason
that they can control activities by their monopoly of technology and markets.
First, a good portion of their income is in the form
of technological rents, royalties, licensing rights, technical assistance fees, etc.
The technology is rarely transferred, and its diffusion outside the orbit of such corporations
is rigidly controlled. When deprived of this technology and marketing know-how,
the natural resources and cheapened labour of the host countries become idle assets
at least in the short run. Second, transfer pricing enables a multinational
to siphon away profits from high-risk territories; or by easily inflating accounting costs,
it can also minimize local tax liabilities. Third, a ‘fairly wide geopolitical spread’
of production facilities enables multinationals to switch the venue of their operations,
treating a large part of the world as their keyboard.
The 25 biggest US multinational firms in 1967
had production facilities, on average, in 27 countries.
A parallel feature is the spreading of markets over several overseas territories,
any one of which contributes only a small share of the total business.
For all these reasons, the bargaining power of a multinational is immeasurably stronger
than that of the transnational enterprises of the classical colonial period.’
ee ripostes this long quote above by SBD de Silva. SBD likened long quotes in academic texts to musical interludes in Bollywood movies, resorted to whenever the plot failed. For scholars to pad theses to fit the lengths required of scholarship bereft of commitment to transform a long-colonized country. To SB, academics and the private sector was as much if not far more corrupt than the government (ee Focus).
Yet ee quotes SBD again, in this 4th year since he passed on, for bequeathing us an oeuvre of science, a pearl of sweat, that shines a beacon as a stand-in for not having a proper economic history of the country. This quote is worth rereading 100,000 and one times over and over again.
It appears in the 17th or last chapter of his book. Here SB strives to locate Sri Lanka’s attempts to transform midst the prevention of investment in modern production. He foresees the formidable organizational challenges posed by a capitalism in decline in the 1970s, as it launched new political and economic wars to preserve colonial power, toppling and installing leaderships.
More importantly, his book ends thus:
‘Clearly the external forces as such are less important than the way in which these forces condition the internal class structure, strengthening or weakening the barriers to development. The necessity to probe these internal forces and to bring them into focus with the external ones leaves a vacuum to be filled. This task needs more research and understanding before there could emerge a sharper and more effective instrument of analysis than the paradigms in vogue.’
• Sri Lanka’s Most Loved Brand is no longer the Rajapakses. The only exciting national ‘brands’ left are fully foreign – corporate concoctions. These brands insist they are ‘local’ – Made-in-Sri-Lanka.
15 of the ‘Most Loved Brands’ here belong to English multinational Unilever. The capitalist mass media proudly trumpeted this ‘revelation’ in the midst of the mayhem in May (ee 12 June 2022, Media).
Unilever claims over 10 million loyal customers in Sri Lanka. The President only got votes from 6.9 million, apparently capricious, citizens. And now nobody loves him. No more. If you believe the capitalist media, that is. And according to this very same capitalist media, not only does everybody wish him out – because somehow one man alone is responsible for the loss of dollars, lack of petrol and food – they wish to get rid of the office of the Executive President altogether. And pronto!
Yes, multinationals want President Rajapakse and the office, the elected head of a republican state, eliminated. Best before people figure what’s actually going on… They want it gone before people also recall why mafia have dons and capos, and MNCs call them Chief Executive Officers.
Imperialists plan to turn Sri Lanka into a white military base, and restrain it as a rest & recreation, tourist casino and money laundry, to keep deindustrializing and destabilizing the country.
‘Whereas producer politics expressed the collective power and organization of the working class, the advent of consumer politics marked its effective decomposition, disorganization, atomization’ (ee 15 November 2019)
Unilever may be the most powerful force over media in the country, over quite a bit of the world, promoting consumer culture. They sponsor all manner of entertainment, etc. Unilever monopolizes SL media time through its agency Mindshare (ee, 21 May 2022). This media highlights and frames political corruption, while hyping the ‘inclusive, green, diverse, sustainable, socially responsible’ facades of multinational capital.
At the very beginning of the recent ‘Aragalaya’, Unilever pulled their advertising from national television broadcasting network Rupavahini (ee, 21 May 2022). Last week, their media dutifully acknowledged in appropriate IMF-ese: ‘State-owned media institutions face economic hardship’. Perhaps Unilever is doing their bit for austerity, taking back their pounds of flesh to trim the fat.
• Media photos show the China and US envoys standing together somewhere in Colombo. The Anglo-Saxon alliance faces defeat in Eastern Europe. These images must be viewed through imperialism’s urgent need to reinforce their wars on Asia via proxies and allied political forces.
• The US this week pushed for Japan and Switzerland’s election to UN Security council. The imperialist encirclement of the Chinese state over the next decade depends on pro-capitalist elements in China demanding the ‘opening-up’ of their economy to capitalism, increasing inequalities, and promoting speculative finance capital.
The Pope says World War III has been declared
‘We are experiencing a 3rd world war fought piecemeal,’ the head of the Catholic Church said in a May 19 interview with Jesuit media outlets that was published on Tuesday, June 14 (ee Sovereignty)
France ‘has entered into a war economy in which I believe we will find ourselves for a long time,’ says French President Macron at the opening of the Eurosatory arms expo in Paris. Last month European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, EU countries had increased their war budgets by an additional €200billion ($209bn).
‘This war is still being waged via proxies, via allied political forces, but it is no less fierce.
Entire regimes are being demolished, governments are being replaced,
and preparations are underway for a large-scale conflict.’
France’s President Macron and the EU state they have entered into a ‘war economy’. The white media talk of ‘great power rivalry’ and ‘geopolitics’, but for us the imperialist wars have never stopped, on land and at sea.
Imperialism wishes to reinforce the international division of capital & labor. They wish to maintain our colonial role as suppliers of raw materials (especially labor!), preventing investment in modern industry (see Random Notes).
Contents:
A1. Reader Comments –
• Juxtapositions & Hype • Chola & Chinese • Sri Lanka Not Alone in Game
A2. Quotes of the Week
• Geopolitical bullies • ‘Operation Mahinda’ • I am not a Politician • World’s biggest Tectonic Mass • Undermining Supply & Industrial chains • US Foreign Relations Committee Focuses • Vocational Training, Taiwan & SL • Putin on Independence Declarations • HRW’s Bunk • Buffett Insurance • Profiting off National Debt
A3. Random Notes –
• Anglo-Saxon Wars in Asia • War Economy Inevitable • Governor Lakshman’s Silence • Trade Misinvoicing • No Cigarette Shortages • Unilever, and ‘loss of dollars’ • Brand Ranil • Raters Everywhere • IMF Plays Hard to Get • Economists Over-inflated as Dollars
B. ee Focus
B1. Economists are More Bankrupt than the Economy – Chandra Maliyadde
B2. Isn’t Private Sector Responsible for present Crisis? – Dhammika Ranatunga
B3. Are Coomaraswamy’s $12bn Borrowings the Root Cause for the Crisis?
C. News Index
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A1. Reader Comments
ee thanks Readers who send articles of interest. Please excerpt or summarize what is important about any news sent, or your comments, and place any e-link at the end. Email: econenews@gmail.com
• ‘If juxtapositions that can create fear/panic are deliberate falsehoods, or hype based on coincidences, then we should worry about the world we live in.’
• ‘Re: Chola & Chinese, they also worked together and traded in large volumes. Although I dislike Cholas to a great extent, they had better leadership and strategy than many. China has deep ties to them re: South China Sea.’
• ‘Sri Lanka is not the only nation experiencing this phenomenon of deposing of elected officials and removal of sovereign governing powers. The 246 years of so-called US independence has proved to be a big hoax. The Anglo-Saxon empire never ceased to regard the US as one of its colonies, albeit, a rogue colony. It has unofficially been remotely governed by that empire ever since the dawn of the US civil war. The incessant assassinations of US presidents is a clear signal that those who do not toe the official English empire line shall soon find themselves in the firing line of the cabal. The politics of the day is, there’s need for the US to be brought back officially into the fold of the English empire. However, current international events have since bypassed the cabal’s wishful and/or witchful thinking. In short, Sri Lanka is not alone in this demonic plan by the cabal to derail its 74 years of independence by deposing elected politicians.
India finds itself in the same conundrum. It’s not India’s choice to play the big Sri Lankan brother in the foreign and diplomatic roles of the Quad, Russian oil debacle, IMF loans negotiations. These are all designed to pit Sri Lanka against India.
Even the mighty and not-so-mighty Japan in reality is still a lapdog of US imperialism. Japan’s experience of 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still historic memories of white-supremacist US and Western imperialism.
As for the question of labor and capital, modern capitalism came out of the genocide and the grand loot of the Americas and Asia. Of course, do not forget the massive enslavement of Africans in the trade that served as a precursor to the ongoing indentured and migrant labor camps and modern-day human and child sex trafficking and the gross human-organ harvesting trade.
Capitalism is a byproduct of war, and war is great theft, ie, giant robbery. As for commerce – free trade – is born out of the continuation of cheating.
Nothing is new under the high heavens. The unorganized shall always be the prey of the organized.’
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A2. Quotes of the Week_
• ‘Sri Lanka’s economic debacle is a collective result of embracing capitalist consumerism, importing more than exporting, spending more than earning, taking loans to continue artificial lifestyle & taking more loans to pay the loans & not utilizing loans for viable alternative return-on-investments…Another more important & ignorant fact: Elected governments could not lead because they lacked the will to stand up to or form a strategy to deal with geopolitical bullies’ – Waduge, ee Economists
• ‘Intelligence reports suggest that ‘Operation Mahinda’ was a classic false-flag operation by the US, to rid Sri Lanka of a forward Prime Minister who had refused to budge to make room for Wickremasinghe, the IMF & the MCC. Although Black Monday was successful in dislodging a major impediment to US policy in Sri Lanka, the plan to do a ‘Gaddafi’ on the charismatic PM, failed.’ – ee Sovereignty, Lightning
• ‘It is political as a president. You know, I am not a politician. Fortunately, or unfortunately, people when they are in politics for so long, you can have so much baggage, you have lot of friends. Lot of people who want help are your supporters. When you go against this – I tried to go against this – you don’t get their help.’ – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
• ‘The weathering of the world’s biggest tectonic mass of the Himalayan Mountains in India and the Tibetan plateau provides the sediment which flows through the rivers Bhramaputra/Ganges reaching the Bengal Delta and finally settles into the Bay of Bengal in the gigantic undersea Bengal Sedimentary Fan. This circles Sri Lanka and flows into the Persian Sea and even reaches the shores of Mozambique, Kenya and elsewhere on the east coast of Africa giving a bonanza of natural gas. It is now the frontier for exploration led by Big Oil in the US. Sri Lanka’s economic future is in the sea.’ – ee Industry, Mannar
• ‘The reasons for Sri Lanka and other developing countries to fall into debt difficulties are very complex. One of the backgrounds is that certain developed countries have long implemented quantitative easing policies, irresponsibly unleashing a deluge of strong stimulus policies, and recently raised interest rates and shrunk the balance sheet abruptly, leading to drastic changes in the international financial environment, with developing countries particularly impacted. Some countries imposed unilateral sanctions and tariff barriers and built various small cliques, which have undermined the security of global supply & industrial chains, and fueled the soaring prices of energy, food and other commodities, worsening the economic and financial situations of developing countries including Sri Lanka.’ – Liu Jinsong, Chinese Foreign Ministry, ee Economists
• ‘In the latest UNHRC development this week, US Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of US Foreign Relations Committee, called for unity among the Quad (US, Japan, India, Australia) at the UNHRC ‘upon receiving the High Commissioner’s report on war crimes committed during’ what he called ‘Sri Lanka’s civil war.’ – ee Sovereignty, Catalog
• ‘Although vocational training was a recommendation in the Kannangara proposals as far back as 1944, this aspect received scant attention. Taiwan is smaller than Sri Lanka, with similar population. It was predominantly an agricultural economy. Today it’s a high-tech powerhouse leading the world in a number of high-tech industries. It has a per capita income of $36, 000. At the beginning of the 1980s Taiwan increased the ratio for senior vocational schools and general high school to 7:3. By 2012 it had 155 senior vocational schools, 14 junior colleges, 77 universities/colleges of science & technology, totaling 246.’ – ee Politics, Aragalaya, Vichara
• ‘When Kosovo declared independence, the International Court of Justice, pressured by Western countries, ruled that under UN Charter, when a country declared independence, there was no need to seek permission from central government, a precedent was set then. Donbass republics did not have to ask Kiev.’ – Russia President V. Putin
• ‘In 2008, Amnesty’s sister organization Human Rights Watch published a fake cluster-bomb report during the Georgia war. Back then HRW analyst Marc Garlasco falsely identified ‘western’-produced cluster bombs which had been fired by Georgia as Russian ones. It was easy to debunk that claim simply by checking HRW’s own cluster-bomb identification charts. (Shortly thereafter Garlasco was suspended and then fired over his fondness for Nazi memorabilia. His false and debunked report however is still on HRW’s website.)’ – ee Media, Ukraine
• ‘Warren Buffett’s smartest investment is not in any manufacturing or service company, but in several insurance businesses. Although the business itself doesn’t generate much profit, it gives Buffett access to a huge insurance ‘float’ which is stable over a long period of time. It is practically a giant loan for which Buffett pays nothing. Buffett’s insurance float strategy shows that the only way to make money in Capitalism is if you already have a lot of money.’ – ee Economists, Buffett
• ‘On the contrary, the faction of the bourgeoisie that ruled and legislated through the Chambers had a direct interest in the indebtedness of the state. The state deficit was really the main object of its speculation and the chief source of its enrichment. At the end of each year a new deficit. After the lapse of 4 or 5 years a new loan. And every new loan offered new opportunities to the finance aristocracy for defrauding the state, which was kept artificially on the verge of bankruptcy – it had to negotiate with the bankers under the most unfavorable conditions. Each new loan gave a further opportunity, that of plundering the public which invested its capital in state bonds by means of stock-exchange manipulations, the secrets of which the government and the majority in the Chambers were privy to. In general, the instability of state credit and the possession of state secrets gave the bankers and their associates in the Chambers and on the throne the possibility of evoking sudden, extraordinary fluctuations in the quotations of government securities, the result of which was always bound to be the ruin of a mass of smaller capitalists and the fabulously rapid enrichment of the big gamblers. As the state deficit was in the direct interest of the ruling faction of the bourgeoisie, it is clear why the extraordinary state expenditure in the last years of Louis Philippe’s reign was far more than double the extraordinary state expenditure under Napoleon, indeed reached a yearly sum of nearly 400,000,000 francs, whereas the whole average annual export of France seldom attained a volume amounting to 750,000,000 francs. The enormous sums which in this way flowed through the hands of the state facilitated, moreover, swindling contracts for deliveries, bribery, defalcations, and all kinds of roguery.
The defrauding of the state, practiced wholesale in connection with loans, was repeated retail in public works. What occurred in the relations between Chamber and government became multiplied in the relations between individual departments and individual entrepreneurs. – Marx, The Class Struggles in France, 1848-50
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A3. Random Notes (‘Seeing Number in Chaos’)_
The ongoing destabilization of Sri Lanka must also be examined midst the main actions of the current world conflict as they unfold in and around Asia, to topple the Communist Party of China. The US war on the Ukraine is a major manoeuvre to distract Russia, and the world, even as they wage greater horrors in Africa and Asia.
2022 began with the US almost igniting civil war in Kazakhstan. After the US presumably fled Afghanistan and then stole its foreign reserves last year, the US relaunched terror attacks in Afghanistan. They then financed the removal of Pakistan’s Imran Khan, imposed the MCC on Nepal, and escalated terror attacks on Myanmar. The Pentagon headman Lloyd Austin recently visited the Philippines. NATO is promising to grant membership to countries in East Asia. Biden visited US-military-occupied (South) Korea and Japan in May, promising to transform Japan into a nuclear power and deploy tactical nuclear weapons in (S) Korea, continually provoking independent (North) Korea. There was a US-sponsored coup attempt in the Solomon Islands, which has a bilateral security agreement with China. US media reports China intends similar Pacific pacts with Kiribati and Vanuatu. There are also US-sponsored terrorist attacks in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, which also directly borders China. Kyrgyzstan was visited last month by England’s Richard Chalk, once head of special secret service unit RICU (Research, Information & Communication, part of Office for Security & Counter-Terrorism under England’s Home Office), now running English NGO REOC Communications. Last week Israel attacked Syria’s airport…
• A War Economy is Inevitable headlined ee 5 Dec 2020: ‘Covid or no Covid, a war economy has been inevitable in Sri Lanka. A wasteful parasitic class still rule, no matter who is nominally ‘in power’. Minting billions in profits, they use plagues to their benefit. They manipulate the ample discontent in the country, which has long preceded the present.’
It was SBD de Silva who insisted that a war economy and ‘austerity’ was inevitable. This was long before Covid and the latest capitalist costume change. The promotion of imported consumption and prevention of local (modern) production spurred the gathering turmoil.
SBD also pointed to how the English imposed a war economy (with bulk selling of exports & bulk buying of imports), and austerity (murdering, maiming & jailing those who dared object) during their World War 2 and after. It is the ‘welfare’ state (guaranteed farm prices, trade unions, that they set up to preserve their colonial rule), which they now wish to dismantle.
‘It is time the country moves up from conditions of merchant capital dominance
to those of industrial capital dominance. An approach to generate profits
through improving value addition in production processes is urgently needed.’
– Central Bank Governor WD Lakshman, December 2020
It is indeed time for former Governor Lakshman to break his silence and tell us who prevented the establishment of a development bank.
If you wish to set your house on fire
it is the duty of the economist to advise you
to use one match instead of 2…
– recalled by SBD de Silva
• ‘Trade Misinvoicing – The Island reported in April, ‘Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe has said money/funds could be transferred only through Banks. If one cannot prove the details to the Bank those imported items would be confiscated by the authorities.’
Better late than never.
Was not the Central Bank aware of huge amount of funds illegally transferred out of the country from the day that the rupee lost its value against the dollar? One non-conventional economist recently estimated that during the first 2 months of this year, misinvoicing cost the country $1.5billion, which will add up to over $6bn by year end.
Misinvoicing takes place through 4 main forms:
1) Import Under-Invoicing – to evade Customs duties or VAT taxes, to avoid regulatory requirements for imports over a certain value. 2) Export Over-Invoicing – to exploit subsidies for exports, to exploit drawbacks (rebates) on exports. 3) Import Over-Invoicing – to shift money abroad (evade capital controls, shift wealth into a hard currency, etc); overstating cost of imported inputs to reduce income tax liability, to avoid anti-dumping duties (highest leakage of dollars takes place through this subterfuge). 4) Shifting money abroad (to evade capital controls, shift wealth into a hard currency, etc); income tax evasion.
The Central Bank’s Bank Supervision Department & Department of Customs could stop this criminal activity, which is committed by principally by our captains of industry and trade.’ – Sugath Kulatunga
‘Unilever Sri Lanka has been deeply rooted in Sri Lankan society for over 84 years.
Established as one of the largest FMCG companies in the country,
it manufactures 96% of its products locally to the strictest manufacturing standards.’
Unilever is a multinational octopus pushing FMCG (Fast-Moving-Consumer-Goods) in over 190 countries. So you would think therefore this English MNC Unilever should have more to tell us about the swirling gloom. You would think the same of British American Tobacco’s Ceylon Tobacco Co, who ensures, even if no food or fuel, that cigarettes make their way into the lips and lungs of the country. (League of Multinational Corporates/ Chair Michael Koest was CEO & Managing Director of Ceylon Tobacco of British American Tobacco, BAT)
Their silence echoes and ricochets. Silence as menacing as the fragrance of kebab may be to lambs. Then again, maybe they’re so loud it sounds like silence? A silence even more ominous. Hidden in plain sight.
Unilever, and other MNCs are primarily responsible for any ‘loss of dollars’, and quite legally, through transfer pricing and misinvoicing? (see ee Quotes)
This ‘siphoning of profits’ has certainly been ‘standard procedure’ for Unilever, which has been continuing the robbery of the country for more than the 84 years it claims to have been here, in different guises, then and now. Worse, it’s they who have prevented the investment of those profits in modern production here.
Unilever withholds their most important, capital-intensive machineries and skills, their ‘modern industry’ fortified in England. What Unilever calls ‘manufacture’ involves low-skilled, labor-intensive assembly, or packaging, outsourced to 100s of smaller companies. These SMEs do not pay the same wages or provide the conditions that a smaller minority of unionized workers in Unilever’s nameboard offices & factories are given.
Unilever is the outstanding symbol of the import-export plantation oligopoly that underdevelops us. They hark back to the very beginning of the cinnamon, coconut, coffee and tea plantation slavery games transplanted from the slaveocracies of the Americas into Sri Lanka, and even further, to the East India Companies, which enabled many private companies, most famously those opium traders who came to dominate Asia’s trade, and set up England’s Standard Chartered and HSBC Banks, caricaturing a historic land as ‘Lipton’s Tea Garden’.
Unilever now monopolizes the media and successfully reframes and diverts, misinforms and disinforms. This media prioritizes such issues as ‘corruption’ rather than capitalism, and solely blames elected politicians as irredeemably corrupt. Not the corporations who manage them.
• Indeed, brands are redeemable. Take Brand Ranil. Packaged now as a sober and officially metrosexual ‘Churchill to the rescue’, he again makes calls (or takes messages) from US high clerks like Biden, Blinken, Power. And the media lets us know he (was) called. (We’re not told if they told him to call, or told him to wait for the call).
It is the whites and their media that have the power to transform yesterday’s yaka into today’s divine. When Ranil was removed on the verge of delivering Sri Lanka back to the white powers, envoys from the ‘international community’ (read, whites) elbowed their way into parliament to demand his reinstatement, and declared the new government a ‘dictatorship’, as they continued to do when the new President was elected, and he was then made a laughing stock and a zero. Yet here is Ranil now, back from our zero to their hero again.
Yet, likened to a predator lurking in the weeds of a muddied pond, and making his way for the kill, every now & again casting glints, Ranil is shown leaping into the air, exhibiting depth & wit, applauded by envoy & businessman…
So yes, everybody much prefers Lifebuoy. That chemical confection made bubbly in little boys’ washrooms on tv by that retired cricketer. And everybody loves Lux sudding bosoms across the nation. Or Rinso bleaching the sentient life out of our drains.
So who prioritizes all this much love for Unilever? This love for Unilever was determined by Brand Finance, ‘the world’s leading independent brand valuation & strategy consultancy. Headquartered in the City of London.’
Sri Lankans however don’t do so good in these ratings games. We all know the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Rating Agencies’ negatives. Then there are the financial ratings agencies licensed by Washington. These ratings agencies are linked to the very banks we supposedly owe 50% of our debt to. These raters ‘lost confidence’ in Sri Lanka’s economy, and pushed depreciation & bankruptcy. Just like the IMF orders. Those who were insisting we submit to the IMF, now say we did so too late; the IMF takes it time, playing hard to get.
Faced with underdevelopment, and confounded by market economic,
orthodox economists can only chant: ‘Produce more, work harder, consume less,
tighten your belts, save more, invest more, live within your means, balance your budget,
devalue your currency, break the vicious circle of low income and insufficient investment,
get to the take-off point and then soar into self-sustained growth’,
and a host of such sterile exhortations and banal platitudes.
The bankruptcy of orthodox economic theory,
and its inability to understand and state, leave alone solve, our economic problems,
will become increasingly apparent as our crisis deepens.
The alternative approach sketched out here is presented in the belief that
when orthodoxy fails, heresy must come into its own.
– Some Heretical Thoughts on Economic Development,
GVS de Silva, 1973
Economists are as over-inflated as dollars. SBD would be amazed about the economists popping like white ants out of the decaying woodwork, repeating the same shibboleths or re-echoing their Washington masters’ vocals.
The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA), the SL Economic Association, the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) etc have all provided their proposals, measures & programs for ‘recovery’ – that is, a return to the old ways.
The NMSJ is just an avatara of the US Advocata set, and the usual Wijeya Group media economists, echoing the demands of the IMF, LMNC, etc.
• Economists are more bankrupt than the economy, stings Chandra Maliyadde (see ee Focus). Touché! Malliyade’s retort to WA Wijewardena reminds of the wit of SBD de Silva, to whom this ee blog is dedicated.
Reading the avalanche of clutter uttered by media economists, SB would have snorted like a steer wounded more by their empty prattle than by their rapier analysis. He would have turned many of these monetarist and Keynesian toreadors to vegan cutlets!
‘It is conventional for politicians and economists to call for more foreign investment. But what is the problem of the economy, and why is there no transformation of the economy? ‘Growth’ is not an adequate yardstick, and why the country is not progressing. What goods should we produce for local and export market. And most importantly, how?’
It is to SBD ee also owes the rubric slogan ‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’. SB who recalled Joan Robinson’s ‘The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of readymade answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.’
Why do all these experts repeat what a million soundbytes have not already repeated? And why do our supposedly homegrown analysts feel they have to resort to some fly-by-night foreign John who we will never hear from again? The Ricardo Hausmanns, Razeen Sallys, Mark Mobiuses have been replaced recently by Hankes, Bucheit etc.
Then there is this Patrick Curran, an economist at Telimer quoted in FT. For him, the SL President’s continued office will ‘hamper reform efforts’. And who is Telimer, to tell us? Does not Telimer have a CEO? Telimer is yet another ‘emerging fund’ operator, another hovering vulture, swooping in to grab a sore off a decaying cadaver, eerily echoing what a busyness of economists have kept buzzing about, while they bet against the rupee and also oppose investment in industry.
Then there’s Bloomberg’s Opinion Editor Ruth Pollard for whom ‘the switch to organic farming overnight… irrevocably harmed those in the agriculture sector.’ And Time magazine’s Ian Bremmer, founder of Citibank-linked Eurasia group, laments the Sri Lankan government ‘can’t afford imports or to make its debt payments’. At least Bremmer notes that US is ‘weaponizing finance’ by limiting access to the US market and to US banks, as an instrument of its foreign and security policy
Then there are those who crave for Stiglitzs and Amartya Sens, etc. Left & Right they wail about matters of distribution & circulation rather than production.
SBD focused on the prevention of investment in modern industrialization, and the sabotage by the merchant and moneylender mafia on behalf of the colonial overlords. These overlords bribe these economists who deploy meaningless indices and plug outdated panaceas & untried utopias.
‘Economists are the scientific representatives of the bourgeois class, so the socialists and communists are the theoreticians of the proletarian class.’ – Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy:
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B. Special Focus_
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B1. Economists are more bankrupt than the economy – Chandra Maliyadde
Former Central Bank deputy governor WA Wijewardena writes a weekly column in the Wijeya Group’s Financial Times, and is quoted extensively as ‘respected economist’. WAW told the WG’s Daily Mirror, ‘In every respect, Sri Lanka is a bankrupt country.’ (see ee Economists).
‘I totally agree. But what is not mentioned is that economists are more bankrupt than the economy.
It is true that money printing is a factor for inflation. But what we have forgotten is that supply or costs push inflation. Simply, non-availability is a major factor for the current inflation in Sri Lanka. The demand is inelastic among the poorest segment, as their entire demand is for basic essential commodities. The demand among the richest segment is also inelastic as they go for luxuries irrespective of the price. Accordingly shortages and scarcity has become the major factor affecting inflation.
Most of what’s discussed are symptoms of deep-down crisis created by wrong interpretation, incorrect implementation and mismanagement of the free market economy introduced overnight by the JR regime in 1978.
Going to the IMF was the mantra chanted by neoliberal economists. But those who participated in discussions, without proper homework being done, are dead silent on it. We have burnt our fingers by approaching IMF 16 times before. We were able to get at least part.
Ranil is good for firefighting and could overcome the current crisis situation. But whether he would be able to lay the foundation for sustenance of long-term development is doubtful. His past track record does not prove it.
Regarding raising Government revenue by restoring the tax concessions granted in 2019, I have some concerns. On the one hand, we find fault with the Government for misusing, mismanagement and misappropriation of Government funds. On the other hand, we propose raising revenue. We are silent on public expenditure management and the introduction of target-oriented program budgeting.
So run a few of my cynical ideas…
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B2. Isn’t private sector responsible for present crisis? – Dhammika Ranatunga
Sri Lanka is facing the worst-ever economic downturn in its recent history. An empty treasury can no longer provide sufficient funds, even to buy essentials, like fuel, medicine, cooking gas. Desperate citizens, whose woes are unbearable, are on the streets, showing their anger. People point fingers at politicians and, especially the high-ups in the government in power, for the sorry state of affairs. They also blame the public service and public servants for the inherent weaknesses which led to the present appalling situation in the country.
The political parties in the opposition, too, cannot be absolved from responsibility, as their actions of objecting to worthwhile projects while in opposition have also negatively contributed to the economic crisis. Opposition politicians have also contributed to mismanagement through their popular demands for pay hikes for public servants, recruitment of more employees to the public sector, and subsidized fuel, electricity, transport, etc.
Hence, there is no doubt that politicians of all colours, and public service as a whole, are responsible for the present situation in the country, as partners or contributors to mismanagement of the economy. But the point I wish to raise in this article is whether the private sector, which is claimed to be the engine of growth, too is not responsible for the current economic downturn.
Now, it is more than several decades since we have started to recognize the formidable role of the private sector as the engine of growth. Its expected contribution to economic development is huge. Indeed, the private sector cannot grow alone or play its role very efficiently without the support of the public service, which has to facilitate, guide and regulate the private sector. Its survival and performance linked to the policies of the government. Therefore, one can argue that the state is responsible for the unsatisfactory performance of the private sector, too. Still, there are several reasons, which substantiate the fact that a part of the blame can be attributed to the private sector as well.
One serious issue in Sri Lanka is the non-utilization of opportunities due to a lack of technology and new investments. But, in many industries, existing companies make business cartels to safeguard their interests, at the expense of the growth of the industry. They make promise after promise on their proposed expansions, technological development, and high growth, which does not happen. Instead, they make every effort to stop other players from entering the industry with the power of the cartel. In some sectors, new players have not been allowed in decades due to the influence of the existing companies. The result of this situation is the non-utilization of available opportunities for the well-being of the country.
The private sector entities are assisted by the state through various grants, matching grants, tax concessions, tax holidays, soft loans, free government services, free technical assistance, etc. These entities also benefit from subsidized rates for fuel, electricity, water, and other services. Most of the time, public funds or foreign loan allocations, again which need to be settled by the public, are used for such assistance. But, can we be satisfied that these funds have been very efficiently utilized by those entities? Our knowledge is, even some soft loans have been defaulted due to the failure of some of those projects. Some projects have been abandoned. Although some such projects, and entities, continue, their actual contribution to the national economy is questionable. But, are those private-sector entities accountable enough for the public funds they have received?
Corruption in the private sector is something we rarely talk about in Sri Lanka. But, in developed economies, it is a major area of concern. In Sri Lanka too, we often hear about various frauds, malpractices & skulduggeries with the involvement of the private sector. Sometimes, we hear that some top persons of private sector entities are fired for corrupt deals, but it mostly does not go beyond the removal of individuals. The citizens are less interested in those wrongdoings, as the general belief is that only politicians and public servants are responsible for the utilization of public funds and the management of the economy. But, as is explained in the previous paragraph, the private sector is also responsible for the efficient utilization of public funds. Their role in economic development is formidable. Corruption in the private sector also affects the quality of the services they offer to the public. Hence, it is evident that the frauds, wrongdoings, omissions as well as poor performance of the private sector also have a hand in the economic downturn of the country. The greed of some private sector entities and their unscrupulous actions to earn quick money have also ruined the development of some industries. The adulteration of pure Ceylon Tea is a case in point. Can anybody claim that such unprincipled actions of some of the private sector entities have not affected the economy?
Some private sector entities also play politics at the expense of business ethics and good corporate practices. It is no secret that some business tycoons also have political ambitions. Some want to become kingmakers while others want to become kings. When political interests take precedence over business interests, the performance of the industry is at stake. In addition, some private sector organizations attempt to get the maximum advantage of the corrupt system by keeping a close rapport with politicians and high-level public servants. In fact, on many occasions, the private sector also becomes an associate of the corrupt system. If the private sector entities are straightforward and genuine, most of the corrupt deals could be avoided.
Management issues in the private sector can also be considered as a factor influencing poor performance. For example, innovations, research & development, capacity building, and technological development are not considered priority requirements in many organizations, save a few high performers. High employee turnover in many public sector organizations is also a great issue affecting their efficiency. The resultant poor performance of the private sector is undoubtedly a major limitation for economic growth.
In conclusion, I have to once again mention this article is not an attempt to suggest that political authorities and public service are not at fault or less answerable for the crisis. But this is only an attempt to remind everyone that reforms are required everywhere and we all have to take pains to put our houses in order to get out of the crisis. – island.lk/isnt-private-sector-responsible-for-present-crisis
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B3. Are Coomaraswamy’s $12Bn Borrowings the Root Cause for the Crisis?
Indrajith Coomaraswamy is building himself as an economic savior. He became CBSL Governor thanks to his schoolmate Malik Samarawickrama. He is certainly a gentleman economist. His knowledge of financial markets according to CBSL sources was very shallow. So he depended on his officials.
During his tenure it is now clear he persuaded the Government to obtain US$12billion in ISB loans. By doing so, Sri Lanka’s debt servicing became unsustainable. That was the origin of Sri Lanka’s external debt problem. That’s why IMF Article 4 Report says, the Sri Lankan economy was vulnerable at the ‘eve’ (that means at the beginning) of the Pandemic.
Nevertheless, Professor Lakshman, Cabraal and Attygalle somehow secured forex inflows to pay loans and interest, as well as roll-over maturing debt. They also sourced forex to buy fuel, coal, medicine, gas, and foodstuffs, and to clear the containers of imports, even with some delays.
During the month of March 2022 alone, the government paid back and rolled-over sovereign forex debt payments of a staggering $1,166million, out of the total amount of repayments of approximately $7,100mn that was due in 2022. That was successfully done under the watch of Cabraal and Attygalle.
In April 2022, the forex debt servicing was only $244million, while the forex debt servicing for May and June was only another $789mn, adding to a total of $1,033mn. The repayment and rollover of these amounts were comfortably manageable with the likely inflows into the CBSL from the 25% export conversions of about $750mn, and the rollover of maturing SLDBs of about $363mn, totalling $1,133million.
In addition, Sri Lanka was also on the verge of receiving a significant inflow of the cash loan of $1billion and trade loan of $1.5bn from China, expected to materialize towards the latter part of the month or early May 2022. In the meantime, negotiations were at a fairly advanced stage on the Indian line of credit of a further $1billion, as well as a further accommodation of about an additional $500million by India through the postponement of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) settlements.
But, for the then cowboy-like new finance team of Ali Sabry, Nandalal Weerasinghe, Mahinda Siriwardene and behind-the-scenes Harsha de Silva, it was very convenient and easy claim to make that there was no other option but to default, and make an announcement to that effect on 12 April 2022. That decision to default, which was an ‘overturning’ of a 74-year debt honouring government policy, was done without even a Monetary Board recommendation or a Cabinet approval. There was no Parliamentary approval either, although Parliament had diligently voted the required funds for the repayment of all forex debt when it approved the Budget 2022.
By taking that reckless and highly controversial decision to default, this adventurous quad put the entire country into a huge mess and an irrecoverable spin. As a consequence, today, although the forex loans are not paid, there’s still no forex for the country to buy any of the vital supplies, as claimed by Ali Sabry and Nandalal Weerasinghe. Shortages and queues are increasing with no end in sight, because no country or supplier wishes to do business with Sri Lanka without up-front payment, as the country has officially announced that it is bankrupt. Based on that announcement, the Ratings Agencies have also duly placed Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt at a ‘D’ default status.
Simply consider the situation as to what happens when a person defaults on a loan to a bank and gets his name into the CRIB. Everyone knows that such person won’t be able to get any more loans from that bank or any other bank or from other lenders. Obviously, the same principle applies to defaulting countries also. Surely, Ali Sabry and Nandalal Weerasinghe should have anticipated and known that would happen to the country, when they decided by themselves to default on Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt?
However, even in this pathetic background which has been created by Coomaraswamy, Sabry, Weerasinghe, Siriwardene and Harsha Silva, it’s still Cabraal, P B Jayasundara, Attygalle and Lakshman who are being targeted and humiliated by news presenters, government ministers, opposition politicians, etc., as being the persons who are responsible for this current crisis.
Remember also that Coomaraswamy, Weerasinghe and Siriwardene, together with Harsha Silva were at the helm of affairs of the economy, until the ‘eve’ of the Pandemic (as described by the IMF), and therefore they must definitely take responsibility for the creation of the vulnerability of the economy (as also stated by the IMF) by that time. Thereafter, under Lakshman and Attygalle, both Weerasinghe and Siriwardene served as Deputy Governors. Even under Cabraal, Siriwardene functioned as a Deputy Governor, although Weerasinghe had, by then retired as a Senior Deputy Governor, as late as April 2021.
If so, how is it that Weerasinghe and Siriwardene are now attempting to wash their hands off from blame and to shift the blame for the current crisis for which they should be blamed, more than anyone else?
It’s therefore time that people begin to understand the true situation which has arisen from the hasty and reckless decision to default on the debt, and hold these actual culprits who have put Sri Lanka into this trouble by defaulting debt, responsible.
The current situation also raises a suspicion as to whether there’s a specially cleverly plan to absolve the real culprits including Coomaraswamy, Weerasinghe and Siriwardene from being held responsible for the fallout of the present economic crisis.
We need to identify the true culprits who actually led Sri Lanka into this irrecoverable mess by their reckless actions. That’s why it’s now time that the popular journalists and citizens start asking the right questions from the current authorities, without blindly believing what they are saying for public consumption.
– lankanewsweb.net/archives/14114/did-coomaraswamys-12-b-borrowings-the-root-cause-for-the-crisis
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C. News Index______________________________________________
• ee News Index provides headlines & links to make sense of the weekly focus of published English ‘business news’ to expose the backwardness of multinational, corporate controlled ‘local media’:
C1. Sovereignty
(ee is pro-politics, pro-politician, pro-nation-state, anti-corporatist, anti-expert, anti-NGO)
ee Sovereignty news emphasizes sovereignty as economic sovereignty – a strong nation is built on modern (machine-making) industrialization fueled by a producer culture.
• QUAD could lead way to avoid SL’s economic implosion: Chairman of US Committee on Foreign Relations
‘letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, urging for greater focus on Sri Lanka’
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/16/quad-could-lead-way-to-avoid-sls-economic-implosion-chairman-of-us-committee-on-foreign-relations/
• How political instability undermined national security
– island.lk/how-political-instability-undermined-national-security/
• India to ask for collateral to extend credit line for oil
– island.lk/india-to-ask-for-collateral-to-extend-credit-line-for-oil/
• Why do we look for the West’s gas? – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_15.html
• UN Sri Lanka Core Group expresses several concerns on current situation
‘statement by Ambassador Rita French in Geneva, on behalf of Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, England and USA.’
– themorning.lk/un-sri-lanka-core-group-expresses-several-concerns-on-current-situation/
– ft.lk/news/Core-Group-urges-Govt-to-protect-civil-society-space-amidst-challenges/56-736240
• English govt. not party to training SL’S STF personnel in 1980s – England
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/UK-govt-not-party-to-training-SLS-STF-personnel-in-1980s-Britain/108-239094
• US Foreign Relations Committee Chairman writes Quad for greater engagement in SL
– themorning.lk/us-foreign-relations-committee-chairman-writes-to-quad-members-calls-for-greater-engagement-in-sl/
– island.lk/us-senator-menendez-calls-on-quad-to-make-a-united-stand-at-unhrc-on-lankas-war-crimes/
• ‘Pivot-to-Asia’ – US Executes Lightning Coup to Control Strategic Island in Indian-Ocean
‘A military-style appreciation was sketched-out by John Kerry in his report of Dec 2009 and subsequently fleshed out into an action- plan, code named ‘Pivot-to-Asia’, by President Obama.’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/pivot-to-asia-america-executes-a-lightning-coup-to-take-control-of-a-strategic-island-in-the-indian-ocean/
• Are, unknown to Sri Lanka, para-military units being trained in urban warfare?
‘Like in Ukraine, is the 33rd Brigade from Illinois involved in training elements like the 43rd Brigade?’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/pivot-to-asia-america-executes-a-lightning-coup-to-take-control-of-a-strategic-island-in-the-indian-ocean/
• It took 1 CIA agent 4 days to oust democratically elected Iranian leader in 1953 – Waduge
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/it-took-1-cia-agent-4-days-to-oust-democratically-elected-iranian-leader-in-1953/
• Pohottu as USA Proxy Part 4 A, B, & C, 5A – Kamalika Pieris
‘From May 9th and May 14, 2022 the houses of nearly 80 MPs, of which 74 were Pohottu MPs were burnt down. Houses of some Pradeshiya Sabha and Provincial Council members were also burnt.’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/pohottu-as-usa-s-proxy-part-4a/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/pohottu-as-usa-s-proxy-pt-4b/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/pohottu-as-usa-s-proxy-part-4c/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/pohottu-as-usa-s-proxy-part-5a/
• US and Western Imperial Intrusions with New Weaponry? – Rajasingham-Senanayake
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/17/us-and-western-imperial-intrusions-with-new-weaponry
• Sri Lankan Canadian Action Coalition (SLCAC) Battle for Lanka in Canada
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/29/slcac-battle-for-lanka-in-canada
• Full Frontal: Confronting Diaspora Tamil Canards in Canada
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/19/full-frontal-confronting-diaspora-tamil-canards-in-canada
• Trudeau Is Lying – Canadian Air Patrols Near China Are Not On ‘UN Mission’
– moonofalabama.org/2022/06/trudeau-is-lying-canadian-air-patrols-are-not-on-un-missions-they-are-spying-on-china.html
• Horrendous Western Misreadings of Sri Lankan Situation in 2008-09
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/12/horrendous-western-misreadings-of-sri-lankan-situation-in-2008-09
• Finale: Eelam War IV …. Recalling the Final Stages
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/19/finale-eelam-war-iv-recalling-the-final-stages
• I stand by what I said: Harsha
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/I-stand-by-what-I-said-Harsha/342-239068
• Former Maldivian President refutes Harsha’s remarks
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/former-maldivian-president-refutes-harshas-remarks/
• Harsha meets Ranil; says ready to help
‘PM wanted our support to get a number of fiscal amendments through Parliament.’
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Harsha-meets-Ranil-says-ready-to-help/108-239160
• USAID responds to emerging or unforeseen complex crises overseas
– ft.lk/front-page/US-announces-6-m-emergency-assistance-to-SL/44-736353
• Unanimous support on need to stand with Lanka in difficult time: Jaishankar Indian External
‘MPs who attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on External Affairs. Ministers of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi and DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, among others..’
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Unanimous-support-on-need-to-stand-with-Lanka-in-difficult-time-says-S-Jaishankar-Indian-External/108-239321
• Who is pouring oil on the flames in Sri Lanka? – Feng Guoquan
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/who-is-pouring-oil-on-the-flames-in-sri-lanka/
• Why is China dragging its feet on helping Sri Lanka? – Balachandran
‘China thinks that Sri Lanka has not created a climate for economic growth which will help attract Chinese and foreign investment. For Beijing, the real solution to Sri Lanka’s current crisis lies in promoting economic growth, securing FDIs, increasing trade and signing an FTA with it.’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/why-is-china-dragging-its-feet-on-helping-sri-lanka/
• SL requests China to amend agreement
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SL-requests-China-to-amend-agreement/108-239129
• Central bank is now borrowing ‘reserves’ from India,
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-runs-bop-deficits-on-borrowed-money-95657/
• Crisis-hit Sri Lanka in process to mend Japanese ties after cancelling LRT, ECT projects
– economynext.com/crisis-hit-sri-lanka-in-process-to-mend-japanese-ties-after-cancelling-lrt-ect-projects-95901/
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-trying-to-re-build-relations-with-japan-pm-95799/
• Electricity (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 2022 come into effect from today (June 15)
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Electricity-Amendment-Act-No-16-of-2022-come-into-effect-from-today/2-1137826
• Supermajor oil firm France’s TotalEnergies to buy 25% stake in Adani New Industries
– ft.lk/front-page/Supermajor-oil-firm-France-s-TotalEnergies-to-buy-25-stake-in-Adani-New-Industries/44-736243
• Sri Lanka legislator raises shocking questions over Adani power deal
‘Under the Electricity Act, a government-to-government deal can be made with cabinet approval without competitive tender. Last Thursday the ruling party changed the Act to end competitive tenders for the renewable plants which were passed by the parliament amid vocal opposition’
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-legislator-raises-shocking-questions-over-adani-power-deal-95690/
• Alleged Indian pressure over wind-power project: CEB chairman withdraws statement at COPE
– island.lk/alleged-indian-pressure-over-wind-power-project-ceb-chairman-withdraws-statement-made-before-cope/
• Sri Lanka CEB chairman resigns after Adani deal revelations
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/CEB-Chairman-resigns/108-239006
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-ceb-chairman-resigns-after-adani-deal-revelations-95702/
– island.lk/ceb-chairman-bows-out/
• Sri Lanka’s Adani power deal sans tendering strikes sparks in India politics
‘“BJP’s cronyism has now crossed Palk Strait and moved into Sri Lanka,” Gandhi said in twitter.come message….There were charges that Adani had proposed a wind plant to sell power at twice the market rate and that orders had come from high levels to make the deal happen.’
– economynext.com/sri-lankas-adani-power-deal-sans-tendering-strikes-sparks-in-india-politics-95677/
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-denies-influence-as-adani-controversy-hots-up-95623
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/bjps-cronyism-has-crossed-palk-strait-rahul-gandhi-slams-modi-govt-over-sri-lanka-power-project/
• Adani reacts to Sri Lanka controversy on PM Modi and energy project
– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Adani-reacts-to-Sri-Lanka-controversy-on-PM-Modi-and-energy-project/155-239039
• “Clearly disappointed”: Adani reacts to Sri Lanka controversy on energy project
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/clearly-disappointed-adani-reacts-to-sri-lanka-controversy-on-energy-project/
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Indias-Adani-Group-says-disappointed-over-Lankan-officials-influence-claim/273-239089
• Interesting to see reaction of COPE to the outgoing CEB Chairman’s self-contradiction. ‘
– island.lk/when-truth-becomes-a-casualty/
• CEB chairman drama will have dire consequences: Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA)
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/CEB-chairman-drama-will-have-dire-consequences/342-239119
• Electricity Bill signed into law amidst Adani controversy
– island.lk/electricity-bill-signed-into-law-amidst-adani-controversy/
• Adani controversy: COPE yet to accept ex-CEB chief’s retraction
– island.lk/adani-controversy-cope-yet-to-accept-ex-ceb-chiefs-retraction/
• Sri Lanka CEB ex chair’s letter to be tabled for discussion at next COPE meeting
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-ceb-ex-chairs-letter-to-be-tabled-for-discussion-at-next-cope-meeting-95807/
• Indian FDI: Galle Face protesters move against Modi-backed Adani project in SL
– island.lk/indian-fdi-galle-face-protesters-move-against-modi-backed-adani-project-in-sl/
• Adani Group secures permission to explore floating solar and wind power potential in SL’s territorial waters
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Adani-Group-secures-permission-to-explore-floating-solar-and-wind-power-potential-in-SLs-territorial-waters/273-239211
• Sri Lanka protesters oppose Indian Adani’s USD 500 mn unsolicited wind power deal
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-protesters-oppose-indian-adanis-usd-500-mn-unsolicited-wind-power-deal-95910/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/16/protest-held-in-sri-lankan-capital-against-proposed-wind-project-by-adani/
• Sri Lanka: The Politics Of Adani’s Power Project – Analysis: Balachandran
‘Though the government has said that it is yet to fix the price, it is said that it will be US 7.55 cents per kWh unit, while local producers are paid only the equivalent of US 5 cents. Moreover, the Adanis will have to be paid in USD.’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/sri-lanka-the-politics-of-adanis-power-project-analysis/
• Aeroflot affair: PNF demands explanation, action against fiscal officer, lawyer
‘three senior Airport and Aviation officials who wrongly interpreted the relevant court order’
– island.lk/aeroflot-affair-pnf-demands-explanation-action-against-fiscal-officer-lawyer/
• Sri Lanka open to buying Russian oil, Prime Minister tells AP
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Sri-Lanka-open-to-buying-Russian-oil-Prime-Minister-tells-AP/273-238964
– island.lk/pm-more-oil-may-have-to-be-bought-from-russia/
• Flight SU-289 and the future of Sri Lanka-Russia ties
– island.lk/flight-su-289-and-the-future-of-sri-lanka-russia-ties/
• Lessons from the fiasco over the detention of ‘Aeroflot’
‘It is a widely accepted premise that the court should not act prejudicial to the government’s conduct in its foreign relations.’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Lessons-from-the-fiasco-over-the-detention-of-Aeroflot/172-239030
• Aeroflot to file objections on June 28
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/aeroflot-to-file-objections-on-june-28-485785.html
• Commercial High Court of Colombo decision has cost millions of dollars directly
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/twins-who-dont-know-each-other-485504.html
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/
• China clears air; Praises India for helping Sri Lanka
‘Minister Jaishankar’s soft approach towards China may not please hardcore ruling Hindutva Baratha Janatha Party (BJP) members who see China as a natural enemy. With a trade volume of 125 billion annually and 55 per cent of its external trade passing through the South China sea, clearly relations with China are not to be trifled with.’
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/columns/china-clears-air-praises-india-for-helping-sri-lanka-485764.html
• Chinese, US envoys meet in Colombo; pledge support to help mitigate economic crisis
The Chinese Ambassador told the media that Beijing will wait to finalize a 2.5 billion US dollar loan to crisis-hit Sri Lanka until the IMF loan deal due to debt restructuring’
– economynext.com/us-china-envoys-discuss-broad-topics-of-mutual-interest-as-sri-lankas-crisis-worsens-95694/
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Chinese-U-S-envoys-meet-in-Colombo-pledge-support-to-help-Sri-Lanka-mitigate-economic-crisis/108-239026
• Blinken assures support to promote US investments in Sri Lanka after IMF talks end
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/blinken-assures-support-to-promote-us-investments-in-sri-lanka-after-imf-talks-end/
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/US-stands-ready-to-work-with-Sri-Lanka-US-Secretary-of-State/342-239038
– ft.lk/front-page/US-tells-RW-will-support-SL-after-deal-with-IMF/44-736151
• $120 mln loans from US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
‘$100 million loan to Commercial Bank of Ceylon, $15 million loan to BPPL Holdings, polyester yarn manufacturer with recycled plastic materials, $5 million loan to MA’s Tropical Food Processing’
– timesonline.lk/news-online/120-mln-in-new-loans-and-investments-from-the-United-States/2-1137821
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/us-approves-120-mn-in-new-loans-to-grow-and-support-sri-lankan-economy/
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/US-approves-USD-120-million-new-loan-to-support-crisis-hit-Sri-Lankan-economy/108-239117
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/DFC-approves-new-loans-worth-of-US-120mn-to-SL/273-239153
– ft.lk/front-page/US-Intl-Development-Finance-Corp-approves-120-m-to-boost-SL-private-sector/44-736241
– economynext.com/us-dfc-lends-usd120-mln-for-crisis-hit-sri-lankas-sme-sector-95848/
• US announces $6 million in emergency assistance to respond to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis
– adaderana.lk/news/83086/us-announces-6-million-in-emergency-assistance-to-respond-to-sri-lankas-economic-crisis
• England relaxes travel advisory on Sri Lanka
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/uk-relaxes-travel-advisory-on-sri-lanka/
• Minister of Foreign Affairs met US Permanent Rep to Human Rights Council, Michele Taylor
– island.lk/sri-lanka-stresses-importance-of-relations-with-japan/
• GL urges UNHRC to heed situation in SL
– island.lk/gl-urges-unhrc-to-heed-situation-in-sl/
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/gl-meets-president-of-unhrc-discusses-current-situation-in-sri-lanka/
– ft.lk/news/GL-briefs-Human-Rights-Council-President-on-Sri-Lankan-Issues/56-736239
• UN warns Sri Lanka could face ‘full-blown humanitarian emergency’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/un-warns-sri-lanka-could-face-full-blown-humanitarian-emergency/
• Buddhist Diplomacy highlights historic Lanka- Thailand relations
– island.lk/buddhist-diplomacy-highlights-historic-lanka-thailand-relations/
• A catalogue of foreign policy failures
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/columns/gotabaya-to-stay-on-despite-the-calls-to-step-down-over-failures-485717.html
• Big Power Manoeuvres in and around Sri Lanka: The Bandarage Essay
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/16/neo-colonial-modalities-overwhelming-sri-lanka
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/16/understanding-chinas-foreign-manoeuvres-western-misconceptions – thuppahis.com/2022/05/17/big-power-manoeuvres-in-and-around-sri-lanka-the-bandarage-essay
• US Jeers & Cheers at the Rajapaksa Downfall – Mujib Mashal and Skandha Gunasekara
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/15/ny-times-jeers-cheers-at-the-rajapaksa-downfall
• NATO runs into multipolar world order
– indianpunchline.com/nato-runs-into-multipolar-world-order
• Why India must decouple from I2U2 – Bhadrakumar
‘India also forms part of the Gang of Four led by US President Joe Biden to “contain” Iran, from a new platform called I2U2 — the ‘I’ being India and Israel, and ‘U’ being US and UAE. The I2U2 summit in mid-… destined to be a signpost in the geopolitics of West Asia’
– indianpunchline.com/why-india-must-decouple-from-i2u2/
• China doubles down on vision with Russia – Bhadrakumar
– indianpunchline.com/china-doubles-down-on-vision-with-russia/
• China, India opposed to interference in border dispute
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/18/china-india-shunt-aside-third-parties-seeking-dispute-settlement-face-to-face
• The BRI and Sino-Indian Rivalry Today
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/28/the-bri-and-sino-indian-rivalry-today/#more-62215
• How does Bangladesh set a shining example of communal peace and harmony in South Asia?
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/how-does-bangladesh-set-a-shining-example-of-communal-peace-and-harmony-in-south-asia/
• Why did Bangladesh need to cancel an NGO Odhikar’s license?
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/why-did-bangladesh-need-to-cancel-an-ngo-odhikars-license/
• Decoding the Narrative ‘there will be no Hindus left in Bangladesh in the next 30 years’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/decoding-the-narrative-there-will-be-no-hindus-left-in-bangladesh-in-the-next-30-years/
• Promoting Nepal-Bangladesh Ties for Better Bilateral Understanding
‘The first Bangla poetry (Charjapad) was discovered in the library of Nepal’s King by a famous linguist Haraprasad Shastri.’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/promoting-nepal-bangladesh-ties-for-better-bilateral-understanding/
• Cambodia, Bangladesh Mark Fifty Years Of Friendly Ties
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/cambodia-bangladesh-mark-fifty-years-of-friendly-ties/
• China vows to ‘fight to the end’ to prevent Taiwan’s independence
– island.lk/china-vows-to-fight-to-the-end-to-prevent-taiwans-independence/
• On the fictions of the China threat – John Lander, a former Australian ambassador
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/08/a-view-of-australia-from-orcadian-somewhere-in-the-orkney-islands/#more-62619
• Face-to-Face in the Solomon Islands: Two Global Giants
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/30/face-to-face-in-the-solomon-islands-two-global-giants/#more-62247
• Russia urges Tel Aviv to stop its aggression against Syria
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290591-russia-urges-tel-aviv-to-stop-its-aggression-against-syria
• US confirms Russian airstrikes on al-Tanf base in Syria
– en.mehrnews.com/news/188082/US-confirms-Russian-airstrikes-on-al-Tanf-base-in-Syria
• U.S. president plans controversial trip to Saudi Arabia
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290603-us-president-plans-controversial-trip-to-saudi-arabia
• Israel Lobby’s Black Allies Aim to Unseat Rashida Tlaib
– blackagendareport.com/israel-lobbys-black-allies-aim-unseat-rashida-tlaib
• Amongst the “Ukrainian storm”, Turkey is destined to maximum cooperation with Russia
eadaily.com/ru/news/2022/06/13/turciya-v-ukrainskom-shtorme-obrechena-na-maksimalnoe-sblizhenie-s-rossiey-mnenie
• Next 100 Days of Ukraine War – Bhadrakumar
‘The New York-based Council on Foreign Relations videoconference on May 31 titled Russia’s War in Ukraine: How does it end? CFR president Richard Haas chaired the panel – Stephen Hadley, Prof. Charles Kupchan, Alina Polyakova and Lt. Gen. (Retd) Stephen Twitty.’
– indianpunchline.com/next-100-days-of-ukraine-war/
• Ukraine: Any Reason India should abandon Russia and Join US bandwagon? – Mahalingam
‘Pray tell us which sophisticated defence technologies the US has transferred to India till date?’
– indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/ukraine-any-reason-why-india-should-abandon-russia-and-join-the-us-bandwagon/
• 300-400 Ukrainian troops trapped at Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk
– hindustantimes.com/world-news/300400-ukrainian-troops-trapped-at-azot-chemical-plant-in-severodonetsk-101654969089507.html
• Ukraine is Killing Surrendering Soldiers, Shelling Civilians
– moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-killing-surrendering-soldiers-shelling-civilians
• The War in Ukraine Marks the End of the US Century
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/the-war-in-ukraine-marks-the-end-of-the-american-century/
• World War III has been declared – Pope Francis
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/world-war-iii-has-been-declared-pope-francis/
• Pope Francis: Russian war in Ukraine was ‘perhaps provoked’
– politico.eu/article/pope-francis-says-war-in-ukraine-perhaps-provoked-or-unprevented/
• France, EU have entered ‘war economy,’ says Macron
– news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-13/France-EU-have-entered-war-economy-says-Macron-1aPOEozNqVy/index.html
– rt.com/news/557084-france-military-spending-macron/
• French, German, Italian leaders arrive in Kyiv
– adaderana.lk/news/83079/french-german-italian-leaders-arrive-in-kyiv
• Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation
– moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-the-us-is-on-the-road-towards-escalation.html#comments
• Ukraine – The West’s Response As It Meets With Reality
– moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-the-wests-response-as-it-meets-with-reality.html#more
• New US Act Reinvokes Old Russian Bogeyman as Pretext For More US intervention in Africa
– blackagendareport.com/new-bill-passed-house-reinvokes-old-russian-bogeyman-pretext-more-us-intervention-africa
• A Quarter Century of a Western-backed War of Aggression Against the Congolese People
– blackagendareport.com/quarter-century-western-backed-war-aggression-against-congolese-people
• The Soweto Uprising’s Unfinished Business
– blackagendareport.com/soweto-uprisings-unfinished-business
• On the Pan-American Congress, José Martí, 1889
– blackagendareport.com/excerpt-pan-american-congress-jose-marti-1889
• Anti-Imperialist Summit during the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
– blackagendareport.com/anti-imperialist-summit
• Empire’s Fleeting Leadership in Its Yard
– blackagendareport.com/empires-fleeting-leadership-its-yard
• Evo Morales denounces dirty war campaign against President Luis Arce’s government
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/291030-evo-morales-denounces-dirty-war-campaign-against-president-luis-arces-government
• Greek lawmaker condemns government for turning country into a huge U.S. base
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290998-greek-lawmaker-condemns-government-for-turning-country-into-a-huge-us-base
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C2. Security (the state beyond ‘a pair of handcuffs’, monopolies of legitimate violence)
ee Security section focuses on the state (a pair of handcuffs, which sposedly has the monopoly of legitimate violence), and how the ‘national security’ doctrine is undermined by private interests, with no interest in divulging or fighting the real enemy, whose chief aim is to prevent an industrial renaissance as the basis of a truly independent nation.
• Sri Lanka’s Fallen Remembered at Battaramulla Monument on 19th May
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/21/sri-lankas-fallen-remembered-at-battaramulla-monument-on-19th-maya
• SL Navy Marines take part in RIMPAC, world’s largest naval exercise
‘The whole QUAD group – the US, Japan, China and Australia – are taking part in this exercise from 29 June to 04 Aug.’
– island.lk/sl-navy-marines-take-part-in-rimpac-worlds-largest-naval-exercise/
• USAID-linked BASL releases statement on Law and Order in the country
– themorning.lk/basl-releases-statement-on-law-and-order-in-the-country/
• Public mistrust on Government & law enforcement will have dire consequences – BASL
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/public-mistrust-on-government-law-enforcement-will-have-dire-consequences-basl/
• GoSL & SL Police – Officially Define a Protestor/Protest & Laws pertaining to all: Waduge
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/gosl-sl-police-officially-define-a-protestor-protest-laws-pertaining-to-all/
• Over 1,000 remanded over 09 May violence
– island.lk/slpp-mps-killing-young-mercantile-executive-among-32-arrested-weapon-recovered/
• Sri Lanka’s Al Capone Syndrome threatens human security
‘sometime back weapons were issued to VIPs as they were vulnerable to being victims of violence. “Many didn’t return the guns to the state. Subsequently certain underworld gangs were formed’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Sri-Lankas-Al-Capone-Syndrome-threatens-human-security/231-239125
• Fertilizer importer arrested with five foreign-made firearms in Mabola
‘two 12-bore firearms, a US-made rifle, two rifles manufactured in Czechoslovakia and Germany with two 7-bullet magazines.’
– adaderana.lk/news/83125/suspect-arrested-with-five-foreign-made-firearms-in-mabola
• Sophisticated strategic and legal advice is required to hunt for hidden assets
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/editorial/ultimate-ignominy-whither-the-moves-to-nail-culprits-485710.html
• Madras HC upholds fine on Sri Lankan family for trying to sneak in 1,594 g gold
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Madras-HC-upholds-fine-on-Sri-Lankan-family-for-trying-to-sneak-in-1-594-g-gold/108-239096
• Gazette to be issued lifting English colonial era ban on the country’s Martial Arts – Angampora
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Gazette-to-be-issued-lifting-English-colonial-era-ban/342-239059
• Massive Pentagon budget passed by U.S. Senate committee
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/291029-massive-pentagon-budget-passed-by-us-senate-committee
• Japan, Switzerland elected to UN Security council for two years
‘Mozambique, Malta and Ecuador will also take up 2-year positions from next year. The 5 will succeed India, Norway, Kenya, Mexico and Ireland. The Council has 15 members, 5 of whom are permanent: the US, Russia, China, France and England. The other ten positions are filled by other countries for two-year stints, five of which are announced each year. Japan, Switzerland, Mozambique, Malta and Ecuador were voted in by the UN General Assembly in a secret ballot. Out of the assembly’s 193 members, Japan obtained 184 votes. Switzerland won 187, Malta 185 and Ecuador 190’
– ft.lk/news/Japan-Switzerland-elected-to-UN-Security-council-for-two-years/56-736301
• China at Cutting Edge in Sea Warfare? A Drone Ship
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/13/china-at-cutting-edge-in-sea-warfare-a-drone-ship/#more-62807
• USA Deserves Gun Violence
– indi.ca
• US Gun Violence – Society of Spectacle
– scheerpost.com/2022/06/13/hedges-society-of-spectacle/
• The economic dimension in the USA’s mass killings scourge
– island.lk/the-economic-dimension-in-the-us-mass-killings-scourge/
• Black Lives Matter Organizer Under Police Surveillance
– blackagendareport.com/black-lives-matter-organizer-under-police-surveillance
• COINTELPRO in DC
– blackagendareport.com/no-cointelpro-dc
• A Guantanamo Defense Attorney Speaks
– blackagendareport.com/guantanamo-defense-attorney-speaks
• Why Peace and Disarmament Are at the Heart of Nonalignment
– socialistproject.ca/2022/06/peace-disarmament-heart-of-nonalignment/
_____________________________________________________________
C3. Economists (Study the Economists before you study the Economics)
ee Economists shows how paid capitalist/academic ‘professionals’ confuse (misdefinitions, etc) and divert (with false indices, etc) from the steps needed to achieve a modern industrial country.
• What or who caused the economic collapse of Sri Lanka – Waduge
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/what-or-who-caused-the-economic-collapse-of-sri-lanka/
• IMF & SL’s Economic Collapse – Waduge
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/imf-sls-economic-collapse/
• Are Coomaraswamy’s $12 B Borrowings the Root Cause for the Crisis?
– lankanewsweb.net/archives/14114/did-coomaraswamys-12-b-borrowings-the-root-cause-for-the-crisis/
• Update on the Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka – Illanperuma
– youtube.com/watch?v=rYPf2076sIs
• The middle class has no solution to their problems – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_18.html
• High time for Action in Development – Karunaratne
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/it-is-high-time-for-action-in-development/
• COPA tells Department of External Resources to prepare 10-year Economic Development Plan
‘The Director General of the Department of External Resources said that despite the change in political authority, there should be a specific 10-year development plan that will not change…’
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/COPA-instructs-to-prepare-10-year-Economic-Development-Plan/108-239294
• Prime Minister met MPs on Thursday night to discuss the current economic situation
‘MPs Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickremarathne, Kumara Welgama, Rauff Hakeem, Rishard Bathuideen, Ali Sabry, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Charitha Herath were present at the meeting’
– island.lk/prime-minister-to-present-roadmap-to-parliament-on-overcoming-current-economic-crisis/
• Crisis management roadmap for MP input on way, PM tells key MPs Wednesday (15) evening
– economynext.com/crisis-management-roadmap-for-mp-input-on-the-way-sri-lanka-pm-tells-key-mps-95893/
• Debt advisors Clifford Chance and Lazard in Sri Lanka, IMF team on June 20: PM
– economynext.com/debt-advisors-in-sri-lanka-imf-team-on-june-20-pm-95753/
• IMF team in Sri Lanka from June 20-30; reaffirms support within its policies
– economynext.com/imf-team-in-sri-lanka-from-june-20-30-reaffirms-support-within-its-policies-96008/
• IMF team arrives on Monday to discuss lending arrangement
– timesonline.lk/news-online/IMF-team-arrives-on-Monday-to-discuss-lending-arrangement/2-1137843
• World Bank (WB) expects SL economy to contract by 7.8% in 2022
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/WB-expects-SL-economy-to-contract-by-7-8-in-2022/108-239312
• China views Lanka debt implosion with an anti-west dig
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/china-views-lanka-debt-implosion-with-an-anti-west-dig-485783.html
• China’s Maverick Status in Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis
‘“If China gives a concession to Sri Lanka, it will have to give the same concession to other borrowers,” said economist W.A. Wijewardena, a former deputy governor of the Sri Lankan central bank. “They didn’t want to get into that trouble.” If China tries to avoid debt cuts, that might disrupt the IMF talks or prompt private sector creditors to hold out for more money, experts say.’
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/25/chinas-maverick-status-in-sri-lankas-economic-crisis/#more-62122
• China Becomes Wild Card in Sri Lanka’s Debt Crisis
– thediplomat.com/2022/05/china-becomes-wild-card-in-sri-lankas-debt-crisis/
• Project financing to debt restructuring: China’s role in Sri Lanka’s debt – Moramudali & Panduwawala
– pandapawdragonclaw.blog/2022/06/13/from-project-financing-to-debt-restructuring-chinas-role-in-sri-lankas-debt-situation
– ft.lk/columns/From-project-financing-to-debt-restructuring-China-s-role-in-Sri-Lanka-s-debt-situation/4-736258
• “The Morning After…Sri Lanka has no money and no government. What now?” – The Economist
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/24/the-economist-sums-up-sri-lankas-situation/#more-62100
• Political stability fundamental to economic revival: AKD
‘the perception amongst youth that only a public sector job provides social security.’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Political-stability-fundamental-to-economic-revival-AKD/231-239219
• Proposals for Economic and Political Stability in Sri Lanka – Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA)
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/proposals-for-economic-and-political-stability-in-sri-lanka/
• Common Minimum Programme for Economic Recovery – National Movement for Social Justice
‘priority be given to the Monetary Law Act (which exists in draft form) to ensure the independence of the Central Bank…The actual personnel requirements of the state, of the armed forces, and SOEs must be calculated, and surplus personnel redeployed.’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Common-Minimum-Programme-for-Economic-Recovery/172-238973
• Economic Association unveils nine short-term measures to resolve crisis
‘External Sector, Fiscal and Monetary Policies, Resolving Supply Related Issues, Promoting Alternative Methods of Development, Financing Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Nets, Revival of the Tourism Sector, Revitalisation of State-Owned Enterprises, Sealing Seepages and Leakages of Public Resources and the Management of the Economy.’
– ft.lk/front-page/Economic-Association-unveils-nine-short-term-measures-to-resolve-crisis/44-736242
– dailymirror.lk/features/Slea-proposes-measures-to-overcome-economic-crisis/185-239141
• Lakshman’s appointment was “poorly received by comprador capitalists and economists.”
‘Heterodox economists see things differently. According to them, Sri Lanka’s problems have had to do with its failure to industrialise and shift to manufacture. ‘
– island.lk/sri-lankas-development-dilemmas/
• Explaining Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis – Devaka Gunawardena
‘external shocks, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine, have created unprecedented pressures on Sri Lanka’
– newpol.org/explaining-sri-lankas-economic-crisis/
• IMF: Eagerly awaited amidst growing desperation – Rusiripala Tennekoon
– ft.lk/columns/IMF-Eagerly-awaited-amidst-growing-desperation/4-736119
• People’s protests of 2022: The present from the past – Kadirgamar & Gunawardena
– ft.lk/columns/Sri-Lankan-peoples-protests-of-2022-The-present-from-the-past/4-736118
• “Sri Lanka Needs Strong Public Distribution System, Wealth Tax and Universal Welfare Measures” 1 & 2 – Kadirgamar
– newsclick.in/how-has-sri-lankas-political-landscape-transformed-over-past-months
– newsclick.in/sri-lanka-needs-strong-public-distribution-system-wealth-tax-and-universal-welfare-measures
• A challenge to the current economic crisis: Foundation for a secure robust economy – 1& 2
‘With 1.1 million Government servants, more than 800,000 three-wheel drivers and 360,000 unemployed, there are 26% of the employable population not contributing to productivity’
– ft.lk/columns/A-challenge-to-the-current-economic-crisis-Foundation-for-a-secure-robust-economy-Part-1/4-735814
– ft.lk/columns/A-challenge-to-the-current-economic-crisis-Foundation-for-a-secure-robust-economy-Part-2/4-736183
• Sri Lanka economic crisis – A tale of Meltdown
– timesonline.lk/opinion/Sri-Lanka-economic-crisis-A-tale-of-Meltdown/158-1137478
• Sri Lanka should have gone to IMF sooner, says Central Bank Governor
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Sri-Lanka-should-have-gone-to-IMF-sooner-says-Central-Bank-Governor/108-239311
– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/sri-lanka-should-have-gone-to-imf-sooner-says-central-bank-governor/
• CBSL governor indicates his desire to serve a full term of six years
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/cbsl-governor-indicates-his-desire-to-serve-a-full-term-of-six-years/
• Transparency International in Supreme Court demands accountability for SL economic crisis
– ft.lk/front-page/TISL-files-petition-in-SC-demanding-accountability-for-economic-crisis/44-736355
• Political Dimensions of the Crisis in Sri Lanka – Rohini Hensman
– newpol.org/political-dimensions-of-the-crisis-in-sri-lanka/
• ‘By July/August 2020, we were shut out of international financial markets’ – Sumanthiran
‘The single (biggest) reason we are in this predicament today (are those tax cuts). I am not saying that’s the only reason, but that was the trigger, because it was only after that, beginning April 2020 that our ratings started falling. When the rating started falling, the Central Bank under the Monetary Law gave confidential reports and I believe they cautioned the government that we will not be able to borrow anymore. By July/August 2020, we were shut out of international financial markets.’
– island.lk/sumanthiran-punches-with-both-fists-in-june-8-parliamentary-speech/
• Tamil Leaders’ Response to the Financial Crisis – Frontline
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/05/frontline-on-tamil-leaders-response-to-the-financial-crisis/#more-61018
• Responding to the imminent food shortages and starvation – Sanderatne
‘increased food production, reduced food consumption, state and community interventions and international assistance. What cannot be averted has to be endured and mitigated.’
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/columns/responding-to-the-imminent-food-shortages-and-starvation-485666.html
• Sri Lanka seen as entering preliminary stages of hyperinflation – Abeyratne
– island.lk/sri-lanka-seen-as-entering-preliminary-stages-of-hyperinflation/
• Sri Lanka is bankrupt in every respect – Wijewardena
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/15/bankrupt-sri-lanka-totally-bankrupt
• Gamini Wickramasinghe: The maverick is not quiet at all as the title proclaims – Wijewardena
– ft.lk/columns/Gamini-Wickramasinghe-The-maverick-is-not-quiet-at-all-as-the-title-proclaims/4-736095
• Sri Lanka, world’s poor suffers from Fed’s accidental discovery: Bellwether
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-worlds-poor-suffers-from-feds-accidental-discovery-bellwether-95761/
• Crafting a future for the nation – A.S. Jayawardene
‘administration of the country would be better placed in the hands of a committee consisting of religiously selected, patriotic state workers, young people etc. There should be a group of leaders with no more than nine members at the helm of the hierarchy as the decisive factor.’
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/crafting-a-future-for-the-nation-485484.html
• Planners and economists unaware nations need energy & food sovereignty for independence?
– island.lk/minister-pereras-plan-to-face-forex-crisis/
• Independence of CBSL and Monetary Board not a gift granted on Presidential magnanimity
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/columns/the-agonies-of-a-president-who-just-will-not-go-485636.html
• Another revolution from JVP soon?
– ft.lk/columns/Another-revolution-from-JVP-soon/4-736207
• Where did all the money go? Most of it went into your pockets, my friend.
– ft.lk/columns/Where-did-all-the-money-go/4-736181
• Sri Lanka needs a road map to convince private creditors: Lee Buchheit
‘Buchheit advised the Republic of Iraq in the 2004-08 restructuring of US $ 140 billion of debt accumulated by the Saddam regime.’
– dailymirror.lk/businessopinion/Sri-Lanka-needs-a-road-map-to-convince-private-creditors/306-238946
• An ‘Ugly’ Inflation Report Upended Hopes That Price Gains Would Ease
‘The Consumer Price Index data showed mounting evidence that the war in Ukraine was continuing to push the prices of food, gasoline, electric power and other staples higher.’
– nytimes.com/2022/06/10/business/inflation-report-price-gains-biden.html
• Central Bank trade union warns PM over Governor appointment
‘speculations that Wickremesinghe may not re-appoint the current Governor Dr.Nandalal Weerasinghe, who is a career central banker’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/CB-trade-union-warns-PM-over-Governor-appointment/273-238960
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-central-bank-executives-warn-pm-over-governor-appointment-95595/
• Only pluses are generous assistance from India and engagement with the IMF
– island.lk/this-land-like-no-other/
• Sri Lanka’s development dilemmas
‘the election in 1994 of a regime that modelled itself on Clintonian Third Way Centrist lines, industrialisation was abandoned in favour of outright privatisation and deregulation.’
– island.lk/sri-lankas-development-dilemmas/
• Economy on the edge: LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey
– ft.lk/front-page/Economy-on-the-edge-Survey/44-736356
• SJB to support restructuring CPC, SriLankan Airlines
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SJB-to-support-restructuring-CPC-SriLankan-Airlines/108-239020
• Rajeewa Jayaweera consistently recommended SriLankan Airlines should be privatized
– island.lk/my-brother-rajeewa-jayaweera/
• SriLankan clarifies UL 504 avoiding possible mid-air collision
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/srilankan-clarifies-ul-504-avoiding-possible-mid-air-collision/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/15/official-report-on-ul504-filed-report-confirms-possible-collision-avoided/
• Finance Ministry recommends the privatising of SriLankan Airlines soon
– lankanewsweb.net/archives/13860/finance-ministry-recommends-the-privatising-of-srilankan-airlines-soon/
• Multinational Companies = Today’s Grey Powers Behind the Scenes
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/27/multi-national-companies-todays-grey-powers-behind-the-scenes
• How Merchants Became The New Nobility
– indi.ca
• Major creditors willing to discuss 2020-defaulter Zambia’s debt restructuring
– ft.lk/news/Major-creditors-willing-to-discuss-2020-defaulter-Zambia-s-debt-restructuring/56-736343
• 50% Rise in Money Parked by Indians in Swiss Banks in 2021; At 14-Year High of Over Rs 30,000 Cr
– newsclick.in/50%25-Rise-Money-Parked-Indians-Swiss-Banks-2021-14-Year-High-Rs-30000-Cr
• World’s Shaky Economies: What Happened Before, What’s Happening now: Gian Singh
– newsclick.in/worlds-shaky-economies-what-happened-whats-happening-now
• Russia needs export rethink and home market but no capital controls, central bank chief says
– reuters.com/markets/europe/russia-will-need-rethink-export-policy-central-bank-chief-says-2022-06-16/
– rt.com/business/557243-russia-export-driven-economy/
• World Bank and IMF support to dictatorships
– cadtm.org/World-Bank-and-IMF-support-to-dictatorships
• Nicolas Maduro calls to consolidate Venezuela’s economic diversity
‘continue to develop oil and gas but must consider not being dependent on oil.’
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/291021-nicolas-maduro-calls-to-consolidate-venezuelas-economic-diversity
• Socialist economic development – a review: Roberts
‘The ‘trojan horse’ of a large capitalist sector and an unaccountable CPC within the socialist-oriented Chinese economy remain a serious threat to any transition to socialism.’
– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/06/16/socialist-economic-development-a-review/
• A tightening world – a big week for the major central banks: Roberts
‘The real driver is the relationship between the productive output in an economy and the demand engendered by incomes from capitalist companies and workers households.’
– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/06/18/a-tightening-world/
• US Fed’s ending free-money era may hit emerging markets hard
‘The emerging market has accumulated a lot of dollar-denominated debt since 2014. As a result, they have to pay back more when the dollar appreciates…8 of the largest Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDE) have seen their currencies weaken by more than 15% compared to the dollar in the past 12 months.’
– news.cgtn.com/news/2022-05-24/Analysis-Fed-s-ending-free-money-era-may-hit-emerging-markets-hard-1aiwMCwBP8I/index.html
• Why What’s Going on Right Now at the WTO Matters
‘WTO rules literally protect the invented “trade” rights of billionaires to become multi-billionaires over the human rights of the poor to have access to life-saving drugs. It is an indisputable testament to the WTO’s fundamental brokenness that these rules remained in force throughout the pandemic.’
– newsclick.in/why-whats-going-right-now-wto-matters
• What Buffett Knows That you Don’t – Part 3
– newsclick.in/what-buffett-knows-you-dont-part-3
____________________________________________
C4. Economy (Usually reported in monetary terms)
ee Economy section shows how media usually measures economy by false indices like GDP, etc., in monetary terms, confusing money and capital, constantly calling for privatization, deregulation, moaning about debt & balance of payments, without stating the need for modern industrial production.
• SL’s average household income makes shocking revelation about poverty level
‘Poorest 40% families earn only Rs.26,931, not enough even to put 3 meals on their table at current prices Sri Lanka’s average monthly household income was estimated at Rs. 76,414 prior to the country’s economy fell deep into a recession and incomes deteriorated in the two years of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/SLs-average-household-income-makes-shocking-revelation-about-poverty-level/273-238959
• One in 10 households had food security issues when country entered pandemic: DCS data
‘Nearly 10 percent of the population or close to two million Sri Lankans were already facing acute to moderate level food insecurity even before the country entered the pandemic’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/One-in-10-households-had-food-security-issues-when-country-entered-pandemic-DCS-data/273-238965
• Sri Lanka mulls relaxing open account imports for 10 foods: Minister
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-mulls-relaxing-open-account-imports-for-10-foods-minister-95616/
• Ban on open account (OA) system lifted for 2 months to import selected essential food items.
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/ban-on-oa-system-lifted-for-two-months-485809.html
• Sri Lanka investment goods, non-foods import fall faster than oil bill in April 2022
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-investment-goods-non-foods-import-fall-faster-than-oil-bill-in-april-2022-95634/
• External Sector Performance – April 2022
‘Import expenditure declined…while earnings from exports increased…’
– island.lk/external-sector-performance-april-2022/
• Govt. favours foreign finance repurposing
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/govt-favours-foreign-finance-repurposing-485519.html
• CBSL to extend limitations on capital transactions
– themorning.lk/cbsl-to-extend-limitations-on-capital-transactions/
• Dollar crunch puts pressure on banks’ external transactions
– themorning.lk/dollar-crunch-puts-pressure-on-banks-external-transactions/
• Monitor banks’ lending policies: PM instructs CB Treasury
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Monitor-banks-lending-policies-PM-instructs-CB-Treasury/342-239109
• Private banks await stable policies before granting moratoriums
‘Further, the banks also want independent bodies to make sure policy paradigms by the Government are maintained in the medium to long term, as policies tend to change with the government in power.’
– themorning.lk/private-banks-await-stable-policies-before-granting-moratoriums/
• Rupee liquidity in banks ‘different from normal’: Central Bank
– island.lk/rupee-liquidity-in-banks-different-from-normal-central-bank/
• T-bill yields ease for fourth consecutive week
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/T-bill-yields-ease-for-fourth-consecutive-week/273-239148
• Weekly Treasury bill averages continue to decline sharply
– ft.lk/financial-services/Weekly-Treasury-bill-averages-continue-to-decline-sharply/42-736222
• Sri Lanka rupee’s commercial bank quoted rate down; 1-yr t-bill yield up
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupees-commercial-bank-quoted-rate-down-1-yr-t-bill-yield-up-95909/
• Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields down
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-treasury-bill-yields-down-95853/
• Sri Lanka rupee slightly moves up against TT dollar
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupee-slightly-moves-up-against-tt-dollar-95810/
• Sri Lanka rupee dollar ‘guidance rate’ edges up; bond yields up
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupee-dollar-guidance-rate-edges-up-bond-yields-up-95998/
• Sri Lanka rupee dollar ‘guidance rate’ appreciates despite severe forex shortages
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupee-dollar-guidance-rate-appreciates-despite-severe-forex-shortages-95956/
• Sri Lanka rupee’s commercial bank quoted rate down; 1-yr t-bill yield up
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupees-commercial-bank-quoted-rate-down-1-yr-t-bill-yield-up-95909/
• China turns down request for US$ 1.5bn swap deal
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/china-turns-down-request-for-us-1-5bn-swap-deal-485818.html
• Indian Rupee Tumbles Past 78 Per Dollar Amid Global Risk-Off
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/13/indian-rupee-tumbles-past-78-per-dollar-amid-global-risk-off/
• People in Pakistan urged to drink fewer cups of tea
‘Sharif accused Imran Khan’s outgoing government of mismanaging the economy and said putting it back on track would be a huge challenge. Last week his cabinet unveiled a fresh $47bn (£39bn) budget aimed at convincing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restart a stalled $6bn (£5bn) bailout programme. The IMF deal was negotiated in 2019 to ease an economic crisis created by low foreign currency reserve supplies and years of stagnating growth – but was later paused after lenders questioned Pakistan’s finances’
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/People-in-Pakistan-urged-to-drink-fewer-cups-of-tea/342-239120
• Moscow Lifts Customs Tariffs on Afghan Exports
– tolonews.com/business-178422
• Italy’s inflation hits 6.8 % — highest in more than 30 years
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290999-italys-inflation-hits-68-highest-in-more-than-30-years
• US inflation hits 40-year high, Fed likely to boost interest rates this week
– themorning.lk/us-inflation-hits-40-year-high-fed-likely-to-boost-interest-rates-this-week/
• US makes biggest interest rate rise in almost 30 years
– adaderana.lk/news/83073/us-makes-biggest-interest-rate-rise-in-almost-30-years
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Fed-rolls-out-biggest-rate-hike-since-1994-flags-slowing-economy/273-239209
_________________________________________________________________________
C5. Workers (Inadequate Stats, Wasteful Transport, Unmodern Plantations, Services)
ee Workers attempts to correct the massive gaps and disinformation about workers, urban and rural and their representatives (trade unions, etc), and to highlight the need for organized worker power
• Why Chitrananda Peiris couldn’t reach his inherent potential to fullest extent
‘his unusual originality in solving mathematical problems and experimental innovations.’
– island.lk/chitrananda-peiris-extraordinarily-talented-lecturer-who-didnt-work-to-earn-a-professorship/
• Prosecutors drop case over death of detained Sri Lankan worker in Japan
‘the prosecutor’s office concluded it cannot establish criminal liability in this case following discussions with another prosecution office that is higher in rank…’
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Prosecutors-drop-case-over-death-of-detained-Sri-Lankan-in-Japan/342-239254
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Prosecutors-drop-case-over-death-of-detained-Sri-Lankan-woman/2-1137836
• Youth dies after getting jammed between train and platform
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Youth-dies-after-getting-jammed-between-train-and-platform/108-239323
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/video-young-man-falls-off-beliatte-bound-train-at-station-filled-with-passengers-due-to-fuel-crisis/
• Sri Lanka: Second-highest in child malnutrition in South Asia, says UNICEF
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/sri-lanka-second-highest-in-child-malnutrition-in-south-asia-says-unicef/
• Backlog of 16,000 labour cases in about 80 Magistrate Courts
– island.lk/backlog-of-16000-labour-cases-in-magistrates-courts/
• An Aragalaya needed for public sector reform
‘60% of the 1.5 million public servants (both under the central government and provincial councils) were engaged in browsing the internet, visiting several social media platforms and other entertainment sites using the office computers and their own smart phones for more than two hours of their daily eight-hour duty.’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/An-Aragalaya-needed-for-public-sector-reform/172-239029
• Take holiday to grow your own food, civil servants told by Sri Lankan government
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/take-holiday-to-grow-your-own-food-civil-servants-told-by-sri-lankan-government/
• Public sector restricted for the first time due to fuel crisis
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Public-sector-restricted-for-the-first-time-due-to-fuel-crisis/2-1137841
• University closure will only further disrupt education: FUTA
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/university-closure-will-only-further-disrupt-education-futa/
• Health trade unions to launch hourly protests
– island.lk/health-trade-unions-to-launch-hourly-protests/
• Padeniya out; Sirisena new head of GMOA
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/padeniya-out-sirisena-new-head-of-gmoa-485767.html
• Cardiac surgeons, anesthetics to limit operations from Monday
– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Cardiac-surgeons-anesthetics-to-limit-operations-from-Monday/155-239317
• CEB engineers holding people to ransom
– island.lk/ceb-engineers-holding-people-to-ransom/
• Social Security Tax approved despite Ceylon Chamber of Commerce concerns
– themorning.lk/social-security-tax-approved-despite-businesses-concerns/
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Cabinet-gives-approval-for-2-5-Social-Security-Contribution-Levy/273-239084
• Apparel industry addresses impact of crisis on workers
‘The apparel industry is Sri Lanka’s largest export earner and accounts for 40 percent of the country’s total exports.’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Apparel-industry-addresses-impact-of-crisis-on-workers/273-239081
• Estate welfare officers at Elpitiya Plantations first to receive Aitken Spence HRM education
– island.lk/estate-welfare-officers-at-elpitiya-plantations-first-to-receive-hrm-education/
• Sri Lanka official remittances down 33-pct in May
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-official-remittances-down-33-pct-in-may-95612/
• Five years leave for public servants to work overseas
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/five-years-leave-for-public-servants-to-work-overseas-485812.html
• India has helped release of 2,977 Indian fishermen from Sri Lanka: Union Minister
‘not even a single Tamil fishermen was in Sri Lankan jail’
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Centre-has-helped-release-of-2-977-Indian-fishermen-from-Sri-Lanka-Union-Minister/108-239171
• Sixty four arrested while attempting to flee via a local fishing trawler
‘Fifty males, 11 females and three children..All are residents of Trincomalee, Jaffna and Mullaitivu.’
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Sixty-four-arrested-while-attempting-to-flee-via-a-local-fishing-trawler/2-1137827
– adaderana.lk/news/83075/navy-intercepts-fishing-trawler-with-64-persons-attempting-to-illegally-migrate
• Half of food budget at Colombo Port spent on cashew
– island.lk/half-of-food-budget-at-colombo-port-spent-on-cashew/
• Home-based nursing careers: Fourth batch leaves for Israel
– island.lk/home-based-nursing-careers-fourth-batch-leaves-for-israel/
• Waiting day and night for a passport to a new dawn
‘thousands of people are trying to leave the country to seek employment overseas’
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/waiting-day-and-night-for-a-passport-to-a-new-dawn-485820.html
• 288,645 received passports in January to May 2022 compared to 382,506 passports for 2021
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/leaving-in-droves-485510.html
– economynext.com/crisit-hit-sri-lanka-sees-unusual-spike-in-new-passports-issued-95721/
• Moratuwa dons owe State Rs. 51,649,961 for violating agreements and bonds
– island.lk/moratuwa-dons-owe-state-rs-51649961-for-violating-agreements-and-bonds/
• A failed government is destroying our children; how long will we stand watching?
– island.lk/a-failed-government-is-destroying-our-children-how-long-will-we-stand-watching/
• ‘Principals and teachers virtually unassailable once they are appointed.’
– island.lk/cruelty/
• Education sector facing serious crisis in present climate, senior officials tells COPA
– ft.lk/news/Education-sector-facing-serious-crisis-in-present-climate-senior-officials-tells-COPA/56-736344
• Premajayantha leads delegation to Asia Pacific Regional Education Minister’s parley
– ft.lk/news/Premajayantha-leadsdelegation-to-Asia-Pacific-Regional-Education-Minister-s-parley/56-736341
• U. of Moratuwa and Dhammika & Priscilla Perera Foundation to boost skilled workforce
– ft.lk/business/University-of-Moratuwa-and-Dhammika-and-Priscilla-Perera-Foundation-to-boost-skilled-workforce/34-736348
• University of Peradeniya closed
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/university-of-peradeniya-closed/
• All Government & Government approved private schools within Colombo city closed next week
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/all-government-government-approved-private-schools-within-colombo-city-limits-closed-next-week/
• Schools in main cities to be closed next week
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Schools-in-main-cities-to-be-closed-next-week/2-1137845
• O/L Paper Marking affected by fuel crisis: Ceylon Teachers Union
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/o-l-paper-marking-affected-by-fuel-crisis/
• Worshiping The Rich: The Buddha was a beggar too
– indi.ca
• Marriage Prejudices in Ceylon in Decades Past
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/16/marriage-prejudices-in-ceylon-in-decades-past
• Kenneth Bush’s Study of Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka in 2003
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/20/kenneth-bushs-study-of-ethnic-conflict-in-sri-lanka-in-2003
• Gerd von Dincklage: Snorkeller & Traveller Extraordinary
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/20/gerd-von-dincklage-snorkeller-traveller-extraordinary/#more-61919
• Human rights and health groups blast WTO deal on COVID patents
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/291028-human-rights-and-health-groups-blast-wto-deal-on-covid-patents
• England plan to deport refugees to Rwanda faces final challenge
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290605-uks-plan-to-deport-refugees-to-rwanda-faces-final-challenge
• Indigenous protesters block roads in Ecuador over rising costs
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290614-indigenous-protesters-block-roads-in-ecuador-over-rising-costs
• The Trend Toward a Multipolar World is Defined by Class Struggle
‘Lenin concluded that the ascendency of monopoly and finance capital divided the world into colonies and oppressed nations.’
– blackagendareport.com/trend-toward-multipolar-world-defined-class-struggle
• Classes and Politics: Common Sense in the Form of Theory
‘A review of The Class Matrix: Social Theory after the Cultural Turn by Vivek Chibber’
– socialistproject.ca/2022/06/classes-politics-common-sense-in-theory/
• Juneteenth official holiday for corporate exploiters and cynical politicians to pretend concern
– blackagendareport.com/problem-juneteenth
_________________________________________________________________________
C6. Agriculture (Robbery of rural home market; Machines, if used, mainly imported)
ee Agriculture emphasizes the failure to industrialize an agriculture that keeps the cultivator impoverished under moneylender and merchant, and the need to develop the rural home market, monetization and commercialization, to produce, rather than import, agricultural machinery.
• WTO nears food pledges; India, Egypt, Sri Lanka hold out
‘Egypt and Sri Lanka, both net food importers, want recognition that their ability to export food might be limited. India wants the WTO to allow developing countries to hold food stocks without facing penalties for breaching rules on farm support.’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/WTO-nears-food-pledges-India-Egypt-Sri-Lanka-hold-out/273-239146
• De Saram, Julius and Loos virtually monopolised conveyancing associated with sale of crown land, as well as commercial properties associated with the plantation sector in Colombo
– island.lk/two-acclaimed-lawyers-from-ceylon-who-migrated-during-the-days-of-white-australia-immigration-policies/
• Sri Lanka Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture warn of seed paddy shortage
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-agricultural-experts-warn-of-seed-paddy-shortage-96014/
• Govt. to harness prisoners’ brawn in cultivation drive
– island.lk/govt-to-harness-prisoners-brawn-in-cultivation-drive/
• Sri Lanka Army to cultivate barren lands to prevent food crisis
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-army-to-cultivate-barren-lands-to-prevent-food-crisis-96013/
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/sri-lankas-army-to-cultivate-on-barren-land-to-supplement-countrys-food-security-amid-crisis/
• Disruption to tobacco prevention project: PHI Union demand inquiry against DDG
– island.lk/disruption-to-tobacco-prevention-project-phis-demand-inquiry-against-ddg/
• The Galoya Valley Scheme & the People who made it a Reality
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/20/the-galoya-valley-scheme-the-people-who-made-it-a-reality
• Sugar scams continue: COPA reveals govt. yet to introduce licensing system
– island.lk/sugar-scams-continue-copa-reveals-govt-yet-to-introduce-licensing-system/
• Sri Lanka imports 103,000MT of fertilizer after ban lifted: Minister
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-imports-103000mt-of-fertilizer-after-ban-lifted-minister-95797/
• Plans afoot to expedite final stage water supply projects: PMD
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Plans-afoot-to-expedite-final-stage-water-supply-projects-PMD/108-239156
• Half-hearted CAA attempts to seize rice stocks hidden in some mills in Polonnaruwa
– island.lk/the-rice-puzzle/
• Legislation to govern Rice Mill & Silo Owners to prevent food hoarding
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/legislation-to-govern-rice-mill-silo-owners-to-prevent-food-hoarding/
• Sri Lanka to introduce anti-hoarding laws for rice millers after scaremongering
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-introduce-anti-hoarding-laws-for-rice-millers-after-scaremongering-95851/
• Sri Lanka Paddy Marketing Board to issue 10,000MT of rice monthly to combat oligopoly
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-paddy-marketing-board-to-issue-10000mt-of-rice-monthly-to-combat-oligopoly-95899/
• Sri Lanka sees unexpectedly higher Yala rice cultivation: Minister
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-sees-unexpectedly-higher-yala-rice-cultivation-minister-95679/
• PM meets bankers to discuss loans for rice mill owners
– themorning.lk/pm-meets-bankers-to-discuss-loans-for-rice-mill-owners/
• Rice must be sold under controlled price from tonight: Dudley Sirisena
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Rice-must-be-sold-under-controlled-price-from-tonight-Dudley-Sirisena/108-239322
• Sri Lanka to receive 6 batches of rice from China
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/14/sri-lanka-to-receive-6-batches-of-rice-from-china/
– timesonline.lk/news-online/China-to-send-10-000-MT-of-rice-for-Lankan-children/2-1137819
• SL to import 50,000 metric tons of rice under Indian loan
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SL-to-import-50-000-metric-tons-of-rice-under-Indian-loan/108-239179
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-import-50000mt-of-rice-under-indian-credit-line-signed-in-march-95903/
– adaderana.lk/news/83088/govt-to-import-50000-mt-of-rice-to-avert-possible-shortage
• Plans to turn Viharamaha Devi Park and other CMC lands into vegetable gardens
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/9-5-acres-of-cmc-owned-lands-identified-for-ambitious-urban-agriculture-programme-485791.html
• Nearly 5 million in hunger, 56,000 children severely malnourished: UN
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/nearly-5-million-in-hunger-56000-children-severely-malnourished-un-485814.html
• Apoyi-Apoyi Situation in Lanka: UN Report on “Food-Security” Conditions
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/10/apoyi-apoyi-situation-in-lanka-un-report-on-food-security-conditions/#more-62746
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) emergency appeal
– island.lk/ifrc-launches-emergency-appeal-to-provide-relief-to-lankans-affected-by-crisis/
• COPA proposes to set up a new Cabinet Sub Committee for Food Security
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/copa-proposes-to-set-up-a-new-cabinet-sub-committee-for-food-security/
– timesonline.lk/news-online/COPA-proposes-a-new-Cabinet-Sub-Committee-to-address-country-s-food-crisis/2-1137837
• FAO donates cash, 365,000 bags of urea to Lankan farmers
– island.lk/fao-donates-cash-365000-bags-of-urea-to-lankan-farmers/
– economynext.com/fao-to-provide-urea-cash-for-crisis-hit-sri-lankan-small-hold-farmers-95882/
• US contributes USD 27 million to strengthen Sri Lanka’s dairy industry
– timesonline.lk/news-online/US-contributes-USD-27-million-to-strengthen-Sri-Lankas-dairy-industry/2-1137809
• Fish market a microcosm of national calamity
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/fish-market-a-microcosm-of-national-calamity-485805.html
• 25% crop loss for Ceylon Tea in 2022
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/25-crop-loss-for-ceylon-tea-in-2022-485493.html
• Sri Lanka tea prices hit record in May amid currency collapse
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-tea-prices-hit-record-in-may-amid-currency-collapse-95614/
• Tea exports in May down 17% YoY
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Tea-exports-in-May-down-17-YoY/273-239310
• Kelani Valley Plantations’ Pedro Estate Tea graces the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/kelani-valley-plantations-pedro-estate-tea-graces-the-queens-platinum-jubilee/
• SL sign USD 27 million project with US to double the milk production
‘US Department of Agriculture’s Food for Progress partners with a US NGO International Executive Service Corps’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/sl-sign-usd-27-million-project-with-us-to-double-the-milk-production/
• Dudley Senanayake: First Minister of Agriculture and Lands in Sri Lanka
‘Agricultural Research Centres in Mahailluppallama, Ampara, Bombuwala and Kantale were also undertaken during that time and the setting up of Bathalagoda Central Rice Research Centre…’
– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Dudley-Senanayake-Remembering-a-leader-of-the-past/131-239286
• Sustainable economic development in Sri Lanka: Role of mass media in transforming public beliefs and attitudes
– island.lk/sustainable-economic-development-in-sri-lanka-role-of-mass-media-in-transforming-public-beliefs-and-attitudes/
• Australian boost for SL food security?
– island.lk/australian-boost-for-food-security/
• Gas shortage leads to rise in illegal timber racket
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Gas-shortage-leads-to-rise-in-illegal-timber-racket/2-1137815
• Mirihana land reclamation project leaves farmers fuming
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Mirihana-land-reclamation-project-leaves-farmers-fuming/231-239064
• Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) urges PM to reconsider oil palm cultivation ban
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Indias-SEA-urges-PM-Wickremesinghe-to-reconsider-oil-palm-cultivation-ban/273-239083
• Asian Palm Oil Alliance offers support to oil palm industry in Sri Lanka
– ft.lk/business/Asian-Palm-Oil-Alliance-offers-support-to-oil-palm-industry-in-Sri-Lanka/34-736167
• Increase in deforestation and an acceleration in poaching
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/in-this-time-of-crisis-let-us-not-forget-the-environment-485395.html
• Upcoming Challenges in Protecting the Environment: Legally
– island.lk/upcoming-challenges-in-protecting-the-environment-legally/
• Sri Lanka’s leopard one of two remaining ‘island-living’ leopards on earth,
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/pride-and-protection-must-go-hand-in-hand-485367.html
• India likely to impose ceiling on next season’s sugar exports
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/India-likely-to-impose-ceiling-on-next-seasons-sugar-exports/273-239307
• Afghanistan to purchase petroleum products, wheat from Russia
– interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/80187/
• The Real Reasons for the Global Food Crisis – Prabir Purkayastha
‘the Ukrainian mining of the port of Odessa, the sanctions on Russia and the logistical difficulties in exporting wheat and other commodities. He also talks about the impact of fertiliser crisis’
– newsclick.in/mapping-faultlines-real-reasons-global-food-crisis
• Farming and Food Struggles in Palestine
‘“We’ve seen violence and specific targeting of land initiatives, popular organizing around land, organizing with farmers, especially in Area C in the West Bank.”’
– socialistproject.ca/2022/06/farming-food-struggles-palestine/
• European Crop Forecasts
– coceral.com/web/march%202022/1011306087/list1187970814/f1.html
• US Fed hikes rates 75bp as Powell Bubble pushes up food prices hurting the poor
– economynext.com/fed-hikes-rates-75bp-as-powell-bubble-pushes-up-food-prices-hurting-the-poor-95873/
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C7. Industry (False definitions, anti-industrial sermons, rentier/entrepreneur, etc)
ee Industry notes the ignorance about industrialization (versus handicraft and manufacture), the dependence on importing foreign machinery, the need to make machines that make machines, build a producer culture. False definitions of industry, entrepreneur, etc, abound, and the need for a holistic political, economic and military strategy to overcome domination by merchants and moneylenders.
• Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) chasing Red Herrings in the Mannar Sedimentary Basin
‘The cold war that was played in the Caspian Sea between the US and the USSR for its oil has now moved to the IOR were this Great Game will be played in our time. It could be the endgame before 2050 when zero emissions target must be reached in accordance with the Paris Convention on Climate Change….India imports 80% of its oil requirements (now cheaply from Russia). China imports about half its requirements from the ME/Africa and the US is importing very little these days. They are fracking their shale rock using high class vertical and horizontal drilling technology…’
– island.lk/70062-2/
• What happened in the Senaka Bibile era is happening again
‘Eventually the US government in 1976 forced Sri Lanka’s then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike to get rid of Prof. Bibile. The US threatened that PL480 supplies – that is the supply of wheat flour at subsidised rates – would be stopped.’
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/What-happened-in-the-Senaka-Bibile-era-is-happening-again/172-239287
• Racketeers and mineral resources on Cement Corporation land
– island.lk/mr-president-abort-this-racket/
• Is Sri Lanka being digitally colonized? – Waduge
‘The newest ministry – Technology & Investment Promotion – has coupled the departments of registration of persons (births & deaths), departments of Immigration & Emigration (travel/migration), SL Telecom (phone data) & its subsidiaries & 15 institutions including BOI & the Sri Lanka Standards Institute all merging to facilitate foreign direct investments – what do you think this will imply? ‘
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/is-sri-lanka-being-digitally-colonized/
– aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/3/13/digital-colonialism-is-threatening-the-global-south
– allerin.com/blog/digital-colonization-with-internet-governance
• Producer price inflation hits new all-time high of 52.4%
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Producer-price-inflation-hits-new-all-time-high-of-52-4/273-238961
• Industrial production slumps in April signalling deeper trouble
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Industrial-production-slumps-in-April-signalling-deeper-trouble/273-239151
• Sri Lanka manufacturing PMI up in May, services continue down
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-manufacturing-pmi-up-in-may-services-continue-down-95871/
• New strategies needed for industrial sector to earn foreign exchange rapidly – President
– adaderana.lk/news/83089/new-strategies-need-to-be-formulated-for-industrial-sector-to-earn-foreign-exchange-rapidly-president
• Manufacturing and services sectors outlook bleak for next three months: PMI survey
– ft.lk/front-page/Manufacturing-and-services-sectors-outlook-bleak-for-next-three-months-PMI-survey/44-736359
• Electricity Amendment Bill sees the light of day despite opposition’s ‘power corrupts’ charge
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/columns/electricity-amendment-bill-sees-the-light-of-day-despite-oppositions-power-corrupts-charge-485738.html
• Fuel shortage triggers unrest
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Fuel-shortage-triggers-unrest/2-1137822
• Lanka seeks oil from Russia; but only two companies acknowledge request
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/lanka-seeks-oil-from-russia-but-only-two-companies-acknowledge-request-485816.html
• Sri Lanka to issue fuel ‘quotas’ in rationing plan: Minister
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-issue-fuel-quotas-in-rationing-plan-minister-95655/
• Sri Lanka to introduce weekly fuel quota by July as costs shoot up – Minister
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-introduce-weekly-fuel-quota-by-july-as-costs-shoot-up-minister-95615/
• Sri Lanka’s power cuts to last up to 5-years without renewables PUCSL claims
– economynext.com/sri-lankas-power-cuts-to-last-up-to-5-years-without-renewables-pucsl-claims-95619/
• Possible to meet 50% demand for gas, fuel in coming weeks: PM
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Possible-to-meet-50-demand-for-gas-fuel-in-coming-weeks-PM/342-239060
• Payment for 3800 MT gas shipment made today; distribution after tomorrow – Litro
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Payment-for-gas-made-today-distribution-after-tomorow/342-239053
• LITRO management’s failure to place fresh orders for gas
– island.lk/new-litro-chairman-shocked-by-its-managements-failure-to-place-fresh-orders-for-gas/
• Sri Lanka Fuel Crisis To Worsen With No Indications On Sustenance Of Future Supplies
‘fuel purchases have been totally dependent on the ILC(Indian Line of Credit)’
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/sri-lanka-fuel-crisis-to-worsen-with-no-indications-on-sustenance-of-future-supplies/
• Private buses may grind to halt by Friday: Gemunu
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Private-buses-may-grind-to-halt-by-Friday-Gemunu/342-239047
• Sri Lanka needs sustainable fuel bill for road transport
– dailymirror.lk/businessopinion/Sri-Lanka-needs-sustainable-fuel-bill-for-road-transport/306-239071
• Gammanpila proposals to overcome fuel shortage; Online work & seat-less buses…
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/gammanpila-sets-out-proposals-to-overcome-fuel-shortage-online-work-seat-less-buses-among-proposals/
• 30,000 MT of Furnace Oil at Port; NO USD to release for shipment
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/30000-mt-of-furnace-oil-at-port-no-usd-to-release-for-shipment/
• Long wait for fuel: Filling Stations closed due to shortage
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/long-wait-for-fuel-filling-stations-closed-due-to-shortage/
• Several areas plunged in chaos without fuel, gas
– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Several-areas-plunged-in-chaos-without-fuel-gas/155-239172
• Fuel distribution will streamline after price revision on June 24: Ananda Palitha
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Fuel-distribution-will-streamline-after-price-revision-on-June-24-Ananda-Palitha/108-239175
• Norochcholai down again for 70 days
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Norochcholai-down-again-for-70-days/108-239173
• Plant 2 of Norochcholai to be shut down: Longer power cuts on the cards
– island.lk/plant-2-of-norochcholai-to-be-shut-down-longer-power-cuts-on-the-cards/
• Fuel supply has become extremely challenging – Kanchana
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Fuel-supply-has-become-extremely-challenging-Kanchana/108-239170
• High Level Road blocked due to protest demanding fuel
– adaderana.lk/news/83078/high-level-road-blocked-due-to-protest-demanding-fuel
• Massive protests & queues across the island demanding fuel
– timesonline.lk/news-online/Massive-protests-queues-across-the-island-demanding-fuel/2-1137832
• CEB predicts power cuts for three more years
– island.lk/ceb-predicts-power-cuts-for-three-more-years/
• Sri Lanka’s fuel, gas queue death toll goes up to 10 as two men die waiting for essentials
– economynext.com/sri-lankas-fuel-gas-queue-death-toll-goes-up-to-10-as-two-men-die-waiting-for-essentials-95902/
• The coconut charcoal stove seems to be a viable alternative.
– island.lk/need-for-alternatives/
• Licences of three fuel trucks suspended
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Licences-of-three-fuel-trucks-suspended/108-239325
• Sapugaskanda may shut down if govt. unable to bring crude oil shipment: Union
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Sapugaskanda-may-shut-down-if-govt-unable-to-bring-crude-oil-shipment-Union/108-239318
• Six cops injured in Athurugiriya petrol shed clash: Nine arrested
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Six-cops-injured-in-Athurugiriya-petrol-shed-clash-Nine-arrested/108-239314
• Sri Lanka economy grinding to a halt as monetary meltdown bites fuel imports
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-economy-grinding-to-a-halt-as-monetary-meltdown-bites-fuel-imports-95911/
• Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) clarifies rumours on selling fuel at R. Premadasa Stadium premises
– adaderana.lk/news/83120/slc-clarifies-rumours-on-selling-fuel-at-r-premadasa-stadium-premises
• Prioritize officials engaged in paper marking when dispensing fuel: Exams chief
– adaderana.lk/news/83103/prioritize-officials-engaged-in-paper-marking-when-dispensing-fuel-exams-chief
• Do other countries exist to lend us oil? – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_17.html
• Unlawful offenders selling petrol and diesel at exorbitant prices
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/solving-economic-crisis/
• Can’t Fuel Queues be Ended?
– gammiris.lk
• SL renewable energy players move overseas
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/sl-renewable-energy-players-move-overseas-485525.html
• Remove import duty on Inverters, Solar Panels and Batteries
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/solar-energy-solution-for-the-energy-crisis-485476.html
• Renewable energy players experience payment delays up to 7 months from CEB
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Renewable-energy-players-experience-payment-delays-up-to-7-months-from-CEB/273-239147
• Institute of Supply and Materials Management (ISMM) supply chain seminar
‘affiliated to England’s International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM)’
– island.lk/ismm-international-seminar-on-october-24-2022-at-the-shangri-la/
• In spite of surge in commuters, Railway losses mounting – GMR
– island.lk/in-spite-of-surge-in-commuters-railway-losses-mounting-gmr/
• Goods transported via state-run SLTB buses.
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/back-to-the-past-485795.html
• Central Expressway third section: RDA tells court it won’t sign agreements till July 26
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/central-expressway-third-section-rda-tells-court-it-wont-sign-agreements-till-july-26-485787.html
• Progress of Hambantota Port industrial park slows down amid current crisis
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Progress-of-Hambantota-Port-industrial-park-slows-down-amid-current-crisis/108-239150
• Govt. urged to bring foreign digital companies under a local regulatory system
“The G20 summit and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in October 2021, on global taxation rules…a decision was made to ensure that foreign multinational firms will pay a minimum 15% of their total revenue in countries they operate in, which means companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc, would pay a tax of 15% for their operations in India.”
– island.lk/govt-urged-to-bring-foreign-digital-companies-operating-in-sri-lanka-under-a-local-regulatory-system/
• Attracting forex by over 135,000 digital freelance entrepreneurs
‘Most digital freelancers open accounts in Singapore and don’t bring the money here.’
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/attracting-forex-by-digital-freelance-entrepreneurs-485496.html
• Sri Lanka gets high ranking in global startup ecosystem report
– ft.lk/front-page/Sri-Lanka-gets-high-ranking-in-global-startup-ecosystem-report/44-736246
• US Pathfinder Foundation Introduces Artificial Intelligence Platform for Research & Analysis
– island.lk/pathfinder-foundation-introduces-artificial-intelligence-platform-for-research-and-analysis/
• How We Misunderstand AI
– indi.ca
• UNFPA with China donates medical equipment to Sri Lanka worth 800,000 dollars
– economynext.com/unfpa-with-china-donates-medical-equipment-to-sri-lanka-worth-800000-dollars-95830/
• Ceylon Biscuits founder passes away
‘The company started operations when Wickramasinghe gave a proposal to the Education Ministry to provide a high protein biscuit to schoolchildren under the US CARE programme…became the market leader by capturing more than a 50 percent share of the local biscuit market,’
– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Ceylon-Biscuits-founder-passes-away/342-239182
• Sri Lanka’s inflated car prices plunge as interest rates rise
– economynext.com/sri-lankas-inflated-car-prices-plunge-as-interest-rates-rise-96009/
• USA partners with VEGA to Promote Green Energy and Electric Vehicles in Sri Lanka
– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/u-s-partners-with-vega-to-promote-green-energy-and-electric-vehicles-in-sri-lanka/
• Rhoda electric smart bicycle has 75% imported components
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/rhoda-electric-smart-bicycle-has-75-imported-components-485500.html
• Many soaps now labelled Bathing Bar, in very small print and at most times illegibly!
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/letters-to-the-editor-5-485292.html
• Aussie help for promoting culinary and creative art industry here
– island.lk/aussie-help-for-promoting-culinary-and-creative-art-industry-here/
• Unilever Horana factory awarded ISO 14001: 2015 environmental management system certification
– island.lk/unilevers-horana-factory-awarded-coveted-iso-14001-2015-environmental-management-system-certification/
• Financial losses loom for Sri Lanka apparel sector
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Financial-losses-loom-for-Sri-Lanka-apparel-sector/108-239305
• MAS Holdings launches Foundation for Eco Change
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/mas-holdings-launches-foundation-for-change-485480.html
• Coca-Cola & Eco Spindles unveil waste management facility in Wadduwa
– island.lk/coca-cola-eco-spindles-unveil-waste-management-facility-on-world-environment-day/
• The scope of science and the place of the paranormal
– island.lk/the-scope-of-science-and-the-place-of-the-paranormal/
• China’s industrialization and IT application in the past decade
– news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-13/Live-China-s-industrialization-and-IT-application-in-the-past-decade-1aPt2wTBlL2/index.html
• Car parts manufacturers matched in China’s Taizhou to solve supply chain snags
– news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-13/How-does-China-solve-supply-chain-snags-in-auto-parts-industry–1aPqthNGo7e/index.html
• Gem stone and minerals processing center opens in Badakhshan
– ariananews.af/gem-stone-and-minerals-processing-center-opens-in-badakhshan/
• Venezuelan president visits Pardis Technology Park in Iran
‘400 technological companies dedicated to the manufacture of equipment for electronic microscopy, medicines, new therapeutic lines towards animal health, and medicines for reproductive health, software, and metal-mechanic productions.’
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/290612-venezuelan-president-visits-pardis-technology-park-in-iran
• Gasoline prices in the U.S. are skyrocketing
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/13/gasoline-prices-in-the-u-s-are-skyrocketing/
• Canada says it’s in talks with Germany on Siemens-made Nord Stream 1 equipment
– nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-says-its-in-talks-with-germany-on-siemens-made-nord-stream-1-equipment
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C8. Finance (Making money from money, banks, lack of investment in modernity)
ee Finance tracks the effects of financialization, the curious role of ratings agencies, false indices, etc., and the rule of moneylenders, preventing investment in modern production.
• LOLC buys 10% of DFCC Bank
‘Major shareholders of DFCC Bank: HNB (15 %), BOC (12.5 %), M.A. Yaseen (10 %), SLIC (9 %), EPF (8%), Melstacorp (7.3%), and Seafeld International (5.8%). Public float was 62.5% held by 10,510 shareholders. LOLC Holdings through subsidiary Brown & Co. also holds 10 % stake in Seylan Bank’
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/LOLC-buys-10-of-DFCC-Bank/273-239210
• Sri Lanka banking sector continues to expand moderately
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/sri-lanka-banking-sector-continues-to-expand-moderately-485490.html
• Thousands of women benefit claims IFC/NDB scheme
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/thousands-of-women-benefit-under-an-ifcndb-scheme-485487.html
• Sarvodaya Development Finance, Sri Lanka’s first listed, impact investment company
– island.lk/sarvodaya-development-finance-sri-lankas-first-listed-impact-investment-company-records-historic-year/
• Ninth annual CFA Capital Market Awards to be held on June 29
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Ninth-annual-CFA-Capital-Market-Awards-to-be-held-on-June-29/273-239078
• SDB bank kicks of FY22 with resilient Rs.181mn profit for first quarter
– dailymirror.lk/financial-news/SDB-bank-kicks-of-FY22-with-Rs-181mn-profit-for-first-quarter/265-238949
• HSBC’s Group MD and Co-CEO for Asia-Pacific met Governor of the Central Bank
‘HSBC employs over 4,000 employees in the country.’
– dailymirror.lk/financial-news/HSBC%E2%80%99s-Group-MD-and-Co-CEO-for-Asia-Pacific-visits-Sri-Lanka/265-238948
– island.lk/surendra-rosha-hsbcs-group-managing-director-and-co-chief-executive-officer-for-asia-pacific-visits-sri-lanka/
• Sri Lanka stocks slip amid uncertainties; turnover slumps to 7-wk low
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-slip-amid-uncertainties-turnover-slumps-to-7-wk-low-95723/
• Sri Lanka rupee little changed amid dull trading
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupee-little-changed-amid-dull-trading-95701/
• Sri Lanka stocks marginally up in mid-day trade on Monday
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-marginally-up-in-mid-day-trade-on-monday-95691/
• CSE’s dollar-earning companies likely to be hit by global recession
– island.lk/cses-dollar-earning-companies-likely-to-be-hit-by-global-recession/
• Stock market dips sharply over macro concerns
– ft.lk/front-page/Stock-market-dips-sharply-over-macro-concerns/44-736245
• Sri Lanka shares drop for 3rd session; uncertainties weigh
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-drop-for-3rd-session-uncertainties-weigh-95908/
• Sri Lanka stocks down in mid-day trade
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-down-in-mid-day-trade-95891/
• Sri Lanka stocks slips over 1.5-pct in mid-day trade
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-slips-over-1-5-pct-in-mid-day-trade-95806/
• Sri Lanka shares fall to 1-wk low on margin calls, uncertainties
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-fall-to-1-wk-low-on-margin-calls-uncertainties-95850/
• Sri Lanka shares drop for 3rd session; uncertainties weigh
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-drop-for-3rd-session-uncertainties-weigh-95908/
• Lockdown rumour takes a toll on bourse
– island.lk/lockdown-rumour-takes-a-toll-on-bourse/
• Sri Lanka shares post worst weekly loss in seven weeks on economic, political woes
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-post-worst-weekly-loss-in-seven-weeks-on-economic-political-woes-96011/
• Sri Lanka stocks down in mid-day trade (17)
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-down-in-mid-day-trade-95945/
• 5 US Megabanks Lost $300 Billion in Market Cap in One Year; Crypto in Meltdown this Morning; Fed Will Hike Rates Further on Wednesday
– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/06/five-u-s-megabanks-have-lost-300-billion-in-market-cap-in-one-year-crypto-is-in-meltdown-this-morning-and-the-fed-will-hike-rates-further-on-wednesday
• US Fed Fingers Its Worry Beads: Mortgage Rates Double in 6 Months to 6.28 Percent; Crypto Crashes; Layoffs Explode in FinTech
– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/06/the-fed-fingers-its-worry-beads-mortgage-rates-double-in-six-months-to-6-28-percent-crypto-crashes-layoffs-explode-in-fintech/
• Crypto-Carnage Hits Every Asset Class Tied to Crypto
– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/06/crypto-carnage-hits-every-asset-class-tied-to-crypto/
• As the Speeding Crypto Train Crashes, Scientific and Engineering Experts Tell Congress that Both Crypto and Blockchain Were a Sham from the Beginning
– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/06/as-the-speeding-crypto-train-crashes-scientific-and-engineering-experts-tell-congress-that-both-crypto-and-blockchain-were-a-sham-from-the-beginning/
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C9. Business (Rentierism: money via imports, real-estate, tourism, insurance, fear, privatization)
ee Business focuses on the rentier diversions of the oligarchy, the domination by a merchant mafia, making money from unproductive land sales, tourism, insurance, advertising, etc. – the charade of corporate press releases disguised as ‘news’
• Chairman of Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) tenders resignation
– adaderana.lk/news/83101/chairman-of-caa-tenders-resignation
• RIL Property mulls quoting rents in dollars as rupee collapse poses fresh challenges
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/RIL-Property-mulls-quoting-rents-in-dollars-as-rupee-collapse-poses-fresh-challenges/273-239088
• Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) appoints office bearers for year 2022
‘General Insurance Forum Chaired by Kasun de Silva Assistant General Manager – MidCorp of Allianz Insurance Lanka, Life Insurance Forum Chaired by Dayaratne Perera Act. Chief Officer – Life of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, Legal Advisory Forum chaired by Kushan Weththasinghe Assistant General Manager Legal of Ceylinco Life Insurance, Finance Technical Sub Committee chaired by Nuwan Withanage EVP/Chief Financial Officer of Softlogic Life Insurance, Marketing and Sales Forum chaired by Namalee A. Silva Deputy General Manager/Head of Marketing of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, IT Sub Committee chaired by Amal Dharmapriya EVP/Chief Information Officer of Softlogic Life Insurance, HR Sub Committee chaired by Indika Bamunusinghe SVP/Chief Human Resource Officer of Softlogic Life Insurance and the Actuarial Sub Committee chaired by Malaka Mihindukulasuriya Chief Actuary of Softlogic Life Insurance..’
– dailymirror.lk/financial-news/IASL-appoints-office-bearers-for-year-2022/265-238947
• Liquor vendors monopoly oppose liquor licences to supermarket chains: Excise Chief
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Organised-liquor-vendors-trying-to-create-monopoly-Excise-Chief/108-239022
• 1,200 liquor shops in the country
– island.lk/excise-commissioner-general-hits-back-at-their-accusers/
• Hundreds of tourists exempted from visa overstay fines
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/news/hundreds-of-tourists-exempted-from-visa-overstay-fines-485789.html
• “Casinos owe huge sums in taxes to the IRD”: Right of Reply by Bally’s
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/business-times/casinos-owe-huge-sums-in-taxes-to-the-ird-2-485516.html
• Hayleys group profits double to all-time high of at least Rs. 28.1 b in FY22
– ft.lk/front-page/Hayleys-group-profits-double-to-all-time-high-of-Rs-28-1-b-in-FY22/44-736160
• Amarasekera and Weerasinghe to head several listed firms of Dhammika Perera
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Amarasekera-and-Weerasinghe-to-head-several-listed-firms-of-Dhammika-Perera/108-239308
• JAT Holdings revenues rose by 66 percent to Rs.8.897 billion FY21/22
– dailymirror.lk/business-news/JAT-Holdings-delivers-on-IPO-promise-as-earnings-double-in-FY2122/273-238958
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C10. Politics (Anti-parliament discourse, unelected constitution)
ee Politics points to the constant diversions and spectacles and the mercantile and financial forces funding the political actors, of policy hijacked by private interests minus public oversight.
• “It’ll be worse next time,” says Weerawansa
‘“Last time the attackers set only the politicians’ houses on fire. Next time they would target affluent and rich families too. They will attack everyone using luxury vehicles and those living in luxury homes. That is the inevitable future if the government keeps playing games with the crises,” Weerawansa said.
– island.lk/itll-be-worse-next-time-says-weerawansa
• Rights supporters urge authorities not to arrest activist nun involved in arson attacks
– island.lk/rights-supporters-urge-authorities-not-to-arrest-activist-nun/
• Where’s this Aathalgama? – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_16.html
• The Assassination of SWRD Bandaranaike Revisited
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/24/the-assassination-of-swrd-bandaranaike-revisited
• The Killing of SWRD Bandaranaike: Part Two
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/11/the-killing-of-swrd-bandaranaike-part-two
• A Note on the Bandaranaike Assassination Case & Its Sources
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/27/a-note-on-the-bandaranaike-assassination-case-its-sources
• The RanilDasa and Dhammika Perera Combine – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_12.html
• Leftists, Revolution and Nationalism – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_13.html
• Socialism For Babies At Least
– indi.ca
• Which Future For The SLPP? A Political Jataka Tale – Jayatilleka
‘The only chance of survival and recovery for the SLPP and indeed the SLFP is to rebel against and rupture from the Rajapaksas, real-time. It already almost too late.’
– island.lk/which-future-for-the-slpp-a-political-jataka-tale/
• Constitutional Reforms to ABOLISH executive presidency urgent need – Savitri Goonesekere
– island.lk/constitutional-reforms-to-abolish-the-executive-presidency-now-the-urgent-need/
• “Extreme nationalists believe (Executive Presidency) ensures Sinhala Buddhist dominance”
– island.lk/are-we-back-to-parliamentary-democracy/
• Dhammika Perera enters cabinet as new Minister of Technology and Investment Promotion
‘subjects include Department of Registration of Persons, Immigration and Emigration, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, SLT and its subsidiaries, Sri Lanka Standards Institute, BOI and Colombo Port City Economic Commission. Listed companies he resigned included those of his own Vallibel Group, Hayleys Group of Companies (Hayleys, Dipped Product, Haycarb, The Kingsbury and several more), Royal Ceramics, Lanka Tiles and Lanka Walltiles Group (including Horana Plantations), LB Finance, Singer Sri Lanka etc. Perera claims he’s the country’s largest taxpayer.
– island.lk/dhammika-perera-enters-cabinet-as-new-minister-of-technology-and-investment-promotion/
• Election Commission not empowered to ask National List MPs for asset declarations
– island.lk/ec-not-empowered-to-ask-nl-mps-for-asset-declarations-chairman/
• Basil gone, Gota going after one term, Ranil goes on as crisis PM
‘profound presidential confusion. What power is he lacking as President that has led to current crisis? Or in what way has Parliament, where his SLPP was having two-thirds majority, interfered with the exercise of his powers that he could not prevent Sri Lanka from sliding to its current mess?’
– island.lk/basil-gone-gota-going-after-one-term-ranil-goes-on-as-crisis-pm/
• Sri Lanka opposition MP rejects PM’s insinuations; says he does not condone violence
– economynext.com/sri-lanka-opposition-mp-rejects-pms-insinuations-says-he-does-not-condone-violence-95693/
– island.lk/mp-shanakiyan-replies-to-pms-criticism-of-his-apparent-stand-on-violent-attacks-on-politicians/
• Government appears to be targeting social welfare for reduction – USAID NPA Perera
– island.lk/deceptive-appearance-of-calm-perpetuates-self-serving-government/
• “This is the most challenging appointment I ever had – China has NOT ditched us” – PM
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13/this-is-the-most-challenging-appointment-i-ever-had-china-has-not-ditched-us-pm/
• Aragalaya – Vichara
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/11/aragalaya/
• Buriyani Aragalaya
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/13
• Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) files FR challenging Dhammika’s appointment
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/15/cpa-files-fr-challenging-dhammikas-appointment/
• Aragalaya: Role of protests in political change – Laksiri Fernando
– island.lk/aragalayarole-of-protests-in-political-change/
• Hardly a day passes without Ministers warning the public that the worst is yet to come
– island.lk/gnana-akkas-cousins/
• Stop deceiving people, implement 19A fast: Karu urges President Rajapaksa
– ft.lk/front-page/Stop-deceiving-people-implement-19A-fast-Karu-urges-President-Rajapaksa/44-736244
• Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu’s DMK Chief Minister M.K. Stalin – Jeyaraj
– ft.lk/columns/Sri-Lanka-and-Tamil-Nadu-s-DMK-Chief-Minister-M-K-Stalin/4-736184
• Comprehending the crisis, reviewing the responses – Jayatilleka
‘Sajith Premadasa’s welcome return to (social democratic) form in a recent TV interview ‘Ilakkaya’; Champika Ranawaka’s advocacy of a two-track strategy for recovery including a more national-centric Track B, in case Track A, the IMF option, fails to materialise in time or falls far short; Tharaka Balasuriya’s suggestion that the Army be granted State lands up to 5 acres per farm and deployed as the main force or vanguard in a massive cultivation war; and Dullas Alahapperuma’s humanistic reflections in his condolence remarks on the lynched parliamentarian. ‘
– ft.lk/columns/Comprehending-the-crisis-reviewing-the-responses/4-736210
• The critically wounded D.E.M O’Cracy
– ft.lk/columns/The-critically-wounded-D-E-M-O-Cracy/4-736250
• Cricket, morale and Sirisena’s doosra
– island.lk/cricket-morale-and-sirisenas-doosra/
• JVP willing to compromise, if …
– island.lk/jvp-willing-to-compromise-if/
• Constitutional reforms: Karu asks what happened to President’s promise
– island.lk/constitutional-reforms-karu-asks-what-happened-to-presidents-promise/
• Growing animosity between Prez, PM: Maithri
‘President and Prime Minister had made it a habit now to call meetings separately of public officers, representatives of the private sector and trade unions and issue instructions’
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Growing-animosity-between-Prez-PM-Maithri/108-239260
• Gotabaya, Ranil and the Frog and Scorpion Fable – Jeyaraj
– dailymirror.lk/plus/Gotabaya-Ranil-and-the-Frog-and-Scorpion-Fable/352-239289
• SLFP reiterates call for multi-party Government
– ft.lk/top-story/SLFP-reiterates-call-for-multi-party-Government/26-736360
• All-party consensus must be reached without delay: People’s Movement for Reform
– ft.lk/columns/A-way-out-of-the-crisis/4-736256
• Lack of coordination between Sri Lanka president, PM: former President Sirisena
– economynext.com/lack-of-coordination-between-sri-lanka-president-pm-former-president-sirisena-95957/
• Why was Rajapaksa Group Silent when Massive Accusations were made Against Them
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/why-was-rajapaksa-group-silent-when-massive-accusations-were-direct-against-them-by-people/
• Unpatriotic politicians: declare Poson Poya Day as our Annual National Day
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/18/you-crazy-and-unpatriotic-politicians-declare-poson-poya-day-as-our-annual-national-day-to-awaken-the-grown-up-and-inspire-the-younger-generation-to-prepare-them-for-nation-building-at-least-now/
• Sri Lankan Minister forced to flee after angry mob protest against his visit
– newsfirst.lk/2022/06/18/video-sri-lankan-minister-forced-to-flee-after-angry-mob-protest-against-his-visit/
• Yogendra Duraiswamy – Toils of the District Secretary
– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Yogendra-Duraiswamy-Toils-of-the-District-Secretary/131-239284
• Nightmare’s End? – Rohini Hensman
– newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/nightmares-end
• An Island Tragedy – A. Sivanandan
– newleftreview.org/issues/ii60/articles/a-sivanandan-an-island-tragedy
• Afghan Ministers, Officials Fled To Luxury Homes In The US, Dubai As Citizens Suffered
– news18.com/news/world/these-afghan-ministers-officials-fled-to-their-luxury-homes-in-the-us-dubai-as-citizens-suffered-5368681.html
• Six Sermons on Communism and Religion (1870)
‘philosophy and modern science are mere instruments, but industry is the great architect, and communism the lofty structure which the nations of our time are rearing.’
– redsails.org/six-sermons/
• Anarchy For An Anarchic Village
– indi.ca
• Australia election: Why is Australia’s parliament so white?
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/22/australias-whitey-parliament-of-yesteryear
• Population Trends Directing Democracy in Europe Today
‘This ever-increasing percentage of Turkish, Bosnian, Kosovar, Iranian and Iraqi politicians will increasingly influence the choices of the first European power in matters of immigration and multiculturalism.’
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/02/population-trends-directing-democracy-in-europe-today/#more-62437
• The Eighteen Percent Tory Majority: What Now for Education in Ontario?
– socialistproject.ca/2022/06/eighteen-percent-tory-majority/
• Democrats Aren’t the Only Game in Town for Ethiopian American Voters
– blackagendareport.com/democrats-arent-only-game-town-ethiopian-american-voters
• Remembering the 2020 Black Lives Matter Uprising / Cuba and Venezuela in Focus
– blackagendareport.com/remembering-2020-black-lives-matter-uprisingcuba-and-venezuela-focus-wjacqueline-luqman
• Congressional hearings on January 6 attack a diversion for desperate democrats
– blackagendareport.com/black-agenda-radio-june-17-2022
• Parliamentary Elections in France 2022
– socialistproject.ca/2022/06/parliamentary-elections-france-2022/
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C11. Media (Mis/Coverage of economics, technology, science and art)
ee Media shows how corporate media monopoly determines what is news, art, culture, etc. The media is part of the public relations (corporate propaganda) industry. The failure to highlight our priorities, the need to read between the lines. To set new perspectives and priorities.
• International outrage sparked at English decision to extradite Julian Assange
– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/291031-international-outrage-sparked-at-uk-decision-to-extradite-julian-assange
• State media institutions get new Heads
– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/State-media-institutions-get-new-Heads/108-239012
• Daily Mirror investigative journalist writes to IGP on alleged death threats
– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Daily-Mirror-investigative-journalist-writes-to-IGP-on-alleged-death-threats/131-239220
• Mihindu Thero, India and Lanka – Nalin de Silva
– kalaya.org/2022/06/blog-post_14.html
• Op-eds’ by westerners often biased or even plain wrong
– island.lk/why-remain-insular-sri-lankans
• Bishop Robert Caldwell – Same Church that coined Dravida Nadu championing Tamil Eelam
– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/06/12/bishop-robert-caldwell-the-same-church-that-coined-dravida-nadu-must-also-be-championing-tamil-eelam/
• Situating the woman in Buddhist Revival Female Buddhist education and the Buddhist Revival
– island.lk/situating-the-woman-in-buddhist-revival-female-buddhist-education-and-the-buddhist-revival/
• Media Tune Down Ukraine Hysteria – Continue To Print Falsehoods
– moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-killing-surrendering-soldiers-shelling-civilians
• Indigenous Knowledge, Traditions, Culture and Lifestyle Practices in Ancient Sri Lanka
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/tapping-into-tradition-485253.html
• Introduced Pali and Sinhala into the syllabi to break the hegemony of Latin and Greek
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/with-rosemary-rogers-as-partner-in-crime-she-went-on-her-own-literary-path-485241.html
• A Poson Poya that changed our culture
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/a-poson-poya-that-changed-our-culture-485330.html
• “Get ready to experience Sri Lanka’s version of a full moon party”
– wanderlust.co.uk/content/sri-lanka-cultural-treasures/
• Murugappans of Lanka and Biloela: Gross Australian Generalizations about Sri Lanka
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/29/the-murugappans-of-lanka-and-biloela-and-gross-australian-generalizations-about-sri-lankan-situationss
• Skin-Colour in Sri Lanka: The Prevalence of Pitch-Black?
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/01/skin-colour-in-sri-lanka-the-prevalence-of-pitch-black
• Protest and art: Workshop Players take their act to Galle Face
– sundaytimes.lk/220612/plus/protest-and-art-workshop-players-take-their-act-to-galle-face-485344.html
• Stop the repression of democracy – Artistes
– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Stop-the-repression-of-democracy-Artistes/172-238976
• Sena Vidanagama’s photo of Rajiv Gandhi being hit with a rifle butt in Colombo
– island.lk/sena-vidanagama-much-more-than-a-picture-of-a-lifetime/
• Portuguese Creole in Sri Lanka: Faint Traces & Remnants
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/23/portuguese-creole-in-sri-lanka-faint-traces-remnants
• Portuguese Creole in Sri Lanka in Performative Mode
– youtube.com/watch?v=Zil7pncoEkM
• Leonard Woolf: Innocent Imperialist turned Pragmatic Internationalist – Jane Russell
– thuppahis.com/2022/05/23/leonard-woolf-innocent-imperialist-turned-pragmatic-internationalist
• Leonard Woolf’s Remarkable Novel – BBC
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/10/leonard-woolfs-remarkable-novel
• Leonard Woolf’s Humanist Empathy & Discernment
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/04/lessons-from-woolf-for-a-latter-day-american
• The Lonely Cadet and the Maiden: Leonard Woolf in Jaffna …..
– thuppahis.com/2022/06/02/the-lonely-cadet-and-the-maiden-leonard-woolf-in-jaffna
• Kerala: Amid Protests, CM Vijayan Says no Bar on Wearing Black, Media Reports ‘False’
– newsclick.in/Todays-News-Round-Up-June-14-2022
• How to Cast a God into Hell: The Khrushchev Report (2010) – Losurdo
– redsails.org/losurdo-on-the-secret-report/
• Are You Depressed If Things Are Actually Sad?
– indi.ca
• Defamation of Depp Continues
– island.lk/defamation-of-depp-continues/
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email: econenews@gmail.com
blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com
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